IT'S TAKEN him eight years, but defender Shane Wakelin has finally kicked his first goal of this Millennium.

The last time the 32-year-old found the big sticks, the world was preparing for the Y2K bug, the Euro currency was in its first year of circulation and Britney Spears was a ponytail-sporting, fresh-faced teenager on the verge of international stardom.

It happened so long ago, Wakelin struggles to recall the last time he slotted a major, which happened in round 19 of 1999 when he was playing for St Kilda.

"It must have been when I was with the Saints … I would imagine it would have been in 1999," he pondered after the Magpies' win over the Blues on Saturday.

Wakelin can now replace that memory with a much fresher one, having snapped a goal midway through the final term on the weekend that put the Magpies up by 14 points and all-but-halted any chance of a Carlton comeback.

"It was fantastic to kick a goal, considering the situation the game was in as well," Wakelin said.

"I was pretty happy."

Having started the match on young Blues forward Josh Kennedy, the thought of making his mark in attack was far from Wakelin's mind as the ball was bounced. In fact, the chance to boot such an important goal came purely by chance, after he suffered cramp late in the game.

"You wouldn't say one goal is a habit, but in saying that, it was a lot of fun to get up there and have a run around," he said.

"I'd cramped up about 10 minutes into the last quarter and I'd come off. [The coaches] wanted to rest one of the talls in the forward line or try to get a mismatch up there.

"I ended up spending about 10 minutes up there, just to create a bit of a mismatch and drag some of their talls back to the square so they couldn't zone off in front of [Anthony] Rocca.

"It worked well."

The 32-year-old former Saint has been used sparingly this year, playing only four games so far owing to the large number of young defenders at the club.

"At the end of last year, I sat down with Mick [Malthouse] and I was totally understanding of my role," he said.

"The club is in a transition phase. We're developing some exciting young kids and I knew I would either play 15 to 20 games or I might only end up playing half-a-dozen.

"The body was feeling good and I thought I could play a role and help develop some of these young kids and I wanted to continue on.

"That's what I'll do and it will be entirely up to Mick, depending on what match-ups are there from week-to-week. All I try to focus on is getting the body ready each week and helping out these young fellas as much as I can."

Wakelin, who is playing his 14th season at AFL level, said he'll continue to manage his career on a "week-to-week basis" this season and is yet to decide if he has anything to offer Collingwood as a player in 2008.

"I'll weigh that up at the end of the year and, to tell you the truth, it's such a cliché, but I just worry about it week-by-week," he said.

"I want to help these young kids and fast-track them as much as I can."