GEELONG veteran Paul Chapman believes he deserves to play on into a 15th AFL season, but admits he may have to make way for a younger player.
Set to play his 250th game in the Cats' qualifying final against Fremantle at Simonds Stadium on Saturday, Chapman is yet to receive a contract offer for next year, and is unsure if he will get one.
The 31-year-old said he was confident he could continue to contribute if given the opportunity in 2014.
"Hopefully Geelong want me and they want me as much as I want to stay there," Chapman told Channel Nine program Footy Classified on Monday night.
"I know I've got some good footy left in me, and I do want to play next year, but for me now, the focus is on Fremantle and the finals series, and we'll deal with [my future] at the end of the year.
"If they do know, I just hope they tell me as soon as they know."
The three-time premiership player said he had told the Cats of his desire to go on, and been told it was a "wait and see" situation.
He admitted he felt it would be unfair if he were not retained.
"With what I've still got to give, it would be unfair," Chapman said.
"If I didn't believe that I still had something to offer, then I wouldn't want to continue on.
"I believe I do, and it's whether the footy club believes that what I've got to give is good enough for the footy club, and whether they want to sacrifice playing a young kid in my position.
"I think there's a lot of factors."
Asked if he would consider playing elsewhere if not re-contracted by Geelong, Chapman did not rule out the possibility, but nor did he indicate a willingness to do so.
The 2009 Norm Smith medallist has played just two senior games back after spending four months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
He has shown strong form in both appearances, and appears to have timed his run into September perfectly.
But he admitted he should have been more cautious with the problem in its early stages, which may have enabled him to return to the field and press his claims for retention much earlier.
"I trained too hard," Chapman said.
"The scan didn't show much, so I tried to keep training and keep my fitness, and it didn't work out.
"I had two setbacks and it ended up being 16 or 17 weeks.
"Looking back now, I should have respected it a bit more and it might have taken me six weeks, and hopefully all this stuff we're talking about would have already taken care of itself, because I'd have had more chance to prove myself on the field."
