JASON Hoffman will kick off his 16th pre-season as a professional footballer on Friday with no thoughts that his career will be ending any time soon.
The 33-year-old utility, who debuted for the Newcastle Jets on September 2, 2007, has become one of the A-League's great survivors, appearing in 266 games, which puts him 14th on the all-time list.
Of those games, the former Mayfield United and Hamilton Olympic junior has run out 186 times for his home-town club, as well as a further 80 games in four seasons with Melbourne Heart/City.
All going well, by midway through the coming season, he should surpass Nikolai Topor-Stanley (189) and Ben Kantarovski (196) and become not only Newcastle's most-capped player, but also the first Jet to reach the 200-game milestone.
And while personal statistics might motivate some, it is an inherent love of the game, and a desire for team success, that will drive Hoffman through the long, tough pre-season ahead.
"That burning desire to win an A-League championship is still there," Hoffman told the Newcastle Herald.
"I'm more determined than ever to make that happen. I feel like I've got a few more years left in the tank, and if you look at the players the Jets have recruited, and the squad that has been put together, there's no reason why we can't aim to be champions this year."
The only player to have played in both of Newcastle's grand final appearances - their 2007-08 triumph and the 2017-18 disappointment - Hoffman has also endured lean years, in which the Jets collected the wooden spoon.
"A football career is full of ups and downs," he said.
"The low points are probably where you learn the most about yourself. You pick yourself up off the canvas and move forward, and realise you don't want to go through those times again.
"And I guess that's how I've grown as a footballer. I won a grand final in my first season and probably took it for granted.
"But over time you come to learn how much hard work it takes to make a grand final, let alone win one."
Hoffman said he felt the Jets were "one of the better teams" in the A-League last season, in terms of their brand of football, but nobody was satisfied with finishing 10 points adrift of the finals.
