You'd be hard pressed to find too many people more passionate about rugby than Matt Hannay.
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He has the battle scars of almost 30 years to prove it, the wily Gunnedah veteran having not missed a season since 1994.
"I love the game, I love going out there and just having a crack," he said.
So much so that he has found it hard to give away - he has unsuccessfully retired too many times to count - and can't see a day when he won't be involved in some capacity.
"I'll always be a part of it," he said.
This season, after helping out the last couple of years, he has, alongside Lachie Mack, taken on the coaching role with the women's side.
"I just thought I'm slowing down in my playing career I might as well give them a hand and see how we go and I'm loving it," Hannay said.
"They are a blank canvas. Even though some of the players have been here for a number of years they are a blank canvas.
"And they listen better than the guys."
Bowing out in the preliminary final last year, on the progression they have shown since they started training he is excited to see what they can do this season.
Although they do need more numbers, the club putting out the call for any interested players 16 and over.
Adding an interesting dynamic, the role will see him coaching partner Simone Lickorish.
"It's interesting at times because when I've had to pull her into line on a few things I get the death stare and there's a conversation when you get home have to be had," Hannay joked.
"But all in all it's going alright."
In what will come as a surprise to probably no-one, he will also lace up the boots again.
He had hung them up in the changerooms following their grand final loss to Narrabri last year.
Meant as a gesture that he was done, he thought this time he was.
For almost six months they stayed up there.
But about a week before their trial game against Tamworth he "had to pull them down" to help out with some scrum training.
After fighting the itch pretty much since the pre-season started, naturally one thing led to another.
And so against Walcha on Saturday the 45-year-old will suit up for his 29th consecutive season and 15th for the Red Devils.
Named on the bench for second grade, the plan at this stage is to just fill in if needed, with the women his priority.
Experiencing his first grand final with the Red Devils last year, Hannay admits the bitter taste of defeat was probably the deciding factor in him going around again.
"For a lot of the guys I think there's a hangover there," he said.
"Not only because we didn't win last year but because we were so successful the year before, we'd won the minor premiership and coming into finals we were the number one team and then COVID took care of that and that was the end of that.
"So it was really a two year journey to not finish."
Hannay is also heavily involved at a zone level. He was elected the zone senior vice president for 2023, and is also on the coaching panel for the Central North women's side.
They are soon to begin their Country Championship preparations with the first training day/trial set down for Gunnedah on April 23 from 10am.
