GREATER Western Sydney defender Nick Haynes is adamant he has at least two years left in him at AFL level but says he may need to find another club to fulfil that quest.
The 2020 All-Australian and Kevin Sheedy medallist is in the final year of his contract at the Giants and has faced a battle for a place in recent times, amid the shift into defence of Harry Himmelberg and emergence of Jack Buckley and Leek Aleer.
The 32-year-old has featured in five games this season and the past three for the Giants, performing well with an average of close to 20 disposals and 10 marks a game across that recent stretch.
That's given him confidence that he has plenty more to offer at the highest level.
"I'm out of contract end of the year. Right now, my body feels really good, the best it's been for a few years, so my plan is to play on. Where that is, I'm not sure, hopefully here but it could be anywhere else," Haynes said.
"I feel like my body could handle two more years of AFL football and I'm really happy I've put the work in to get it back to AFL standard and I want to make the most of my body and I feel like I've got a few more years left in me."
There are no discussions between Haynes and the club as of yet though and with Aleer showing signs of being a top-class defensive asset for the Giants to go with Buckley, Himmelberg and Sam Taylor, the prospect of Haynes playing elsewhere after 13 years at the Giants is real.
"No talks yet, we're midway through the season," Haynes said.
"My goal is to play good footy, stay in the team and help the team win and we'll worry about it at the end of the year."
While Aleer has kept Haynes out of the team on a couple of occasions this season, there was nothing but praise for the youngster's match-winning heroics in the final term against Geelong last week.
"Every time I turned around and the ball went over my head I thought, 'Oh no' and then to have the front row seat to see Leek do what he did was just amazing," he said.
"For a young player to stand up like that just shows what kind of player he is, can be and will be so it's great for the club and great for him."
The fourth straight win in Geelong for the Giants has stabilised a season that was starting to lag but the injuries are piling up for Adam Kingsley's side.
Stephen Coniglio and Harry Perryman will both miss a month with issues from the Cats triumph, joining Josh Kelly, Lachie Ash and Buckley on the sidelines.
But Haynes is looking at the positives and feels the Giants will have their bad run out of the way before finals.
"You see a lot of teams have September success when they have a full, healthy list to choose from. I've been part of this club before when we've stumbled to September with a lot of injuries, and we've scraped through and come up short in a semi or prelim final," he said.
"Last year we had a full list coming into finals and we played some of our best footy. Hopefully these soft tissues and niggles we have at the moment will be gone by the time September comes."
