As has been the case in recent years, Kyle Cochrane knows that the current season may be his last ... at least for a while.
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The Roosters' veteran forward, 31, thinks he may need to "rest me old body up".
"I'll think about having a rest next year," he said. "But I'll see how I'm going at the end of the season. I say that every year, too, for the last couple of years, but they've been dragging me back every year."
Cochrane, a premiership-winner at Wests Lions, is desperate to win another title before retiring.
After Kooty assembled a crack squad last year, spearheaded by ex-Lions, they had been on track to claim the title after finishing minor premiers - but bombed out of the finals without winning a match.
The last time the Leader caught up with Cochrane, this time last year, he was explaining the origins of his well-known nickname, Yum Yum (his mother, Elizabeth Cubby, bestowed it on him as a baby because he ate so much.)
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He had spoken after delivering a strong performance in the Roosters' 66-18 win over Dungowan. He was humming along, and so were Kooty.
At the time, the Leader wrote that Cochrane "seems to visualise opponents as crash-test dummies at the end of his sharp shoulder blades".
The start to 2019 has been decidedly tougher for him and Kooty, with the Roosters travelling to Narrabri on Sunday second last on the ladder and looking for their third win of the season.
But Cochrane - who says he's been carrying "niggly injuries" - believes that Kooty's strong second-half showing in a 34-16 home loss to unbeaten North Tamworth last start was a turning point for the side.
"We're goin' all right," he said. "A few young ones a startin' to come good now, I reckon .. [in the] Norths game we pushed on a bit.
"We couldn't find our feet the first couple of weeks, but I think we're goin' all right at the moment ... Them young fellas have just gotta have a bit of confidence in themselves, I reckon."
It is only round six of a 14-round season, but Cochrane believes that Kooty's premiership aspirations could hinge on Sunday's result.
"We've got to be on our game this weekend, to stick around for the finals," he said.