AS HE puts it, Stefan Martin is the wrong side of 30, but the Brisbane ruckman says riding this wave with the Lions has him feeling like a kid again.
On Tuesday Martin announced he has signed a one-year contract extension that will take him into the 2020 season as a 33-year-old.
And he's never had more fun.
How good is this? Martin celebrates after downing the Hawks, locking in a finals spot.
In 11 prior years at Melbourne and Brisbane, Martin has never had a sniff of finals, with 12th being the highest either team has finished during his time.
Currently entrenched in the top-four with four rounds remaining, that's about to change.
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"I've said to a few people, this feels like what footy should be," Martin said.
"I personally haven't experienced anything like this before.
"Having been around for a while, it's like I'm a young kid again.
"This type of work environment, this type of job satisfaction are things new to me.
"It's easily the most exciting time I've been around a footy club."
Although Martin was cautionary in not looking too far ahead, when asked about the prospect of playing in September, a wide smile emerged.
"It's incredibly exciting, especially the order it's gone," he said.
"Having gone through a lot of lean years, and it seems like we will now play finals, I feel like that's a better order than if we had have played finals early in my career and then had a lot of dark times after."
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For a man plagued by injuries during the first half of his career, Martin has been somewhat of an ironman since heading to Brisbane.
He has played 114 of the past 118 games and warded off the stiff challenge from understudy Archie Smith this season with another excellent year.
Martin said one-year deals were fine by him.
"I would have taken more, but it is what it is.
"That's the way it goes when you're the wrong side of 30.
"That's fine, I'll just keep getting one-year deals, I'll get five of them," he laughed.
"I feel like this club is my family.
"This will be eight years next year, it's the only place I want to play my footy."
