Andy Wynne jokes that he's come back for just 'one more season' so many times wife Kate has taken to calling him Johnny Farnham.
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Like many before him and no doubt to follow, all intents of retirement have repeatedly faded into the distance by the time the next season rolls around.
For Wynne a big part of it is those he pulls on the black and gold alongside.
They are for him more than just team-mates. They are some of his best mates, and have shared not only premiership success together but some of the biggest moments in their lives.
He also still loves the battle.
"Games like this and a team like this how can you not (want to keep playing)," the second-rower said following Pirates' win over Gunnedah last Saturday.
"It's a pretty hard group of people not to play with."
First pulling on the Pirates jersey two decades ago and notching over 150 games, Wynne has had a couple of breaks in that time, including five years while he was with the army, and has, he conceded, thought he was done a few times.
But, like a vortex it keeps sucking him back in.
"It still excites me to go out and play," he said.
He is grateful to Kate for "holding the fort" and enabling him to still play. With three young children - Ava is seven, Harry six and Jack four - life is busy, and with Ava and Harry now also playing sport it can be a bit of a juggling act of a Saturday.
"And this will come to an end soon, as they get older and it's time to watch and help out with their sports," he said.
But for the moment he's making the most of the twilight of what has been a wonderful ride.
The disappointment of last year's preliminary finals exit was one of the big factors in Wynne going around again this season.
He admitted it was probably actually the first time for a while that he got to the end of the season and didn't think about hanging up the boots.
"I had a bit of a feeling that I wanted to come back and write that wrong," he said.
"I think a few of us were going to be done if last year came off successfully (they were going for five straight premierships).
"Hopefully we're building something better this year."
They do look to be with the win over the Red Devils putting them in the box seat to finish on top.
But they know only too well what can happen if you're not at your best. They learnt that at Inverell two games ago.
"We didn't turn up and we didn't perform.
"You know we got embarrassed in a way there," Wynne said.
Their first loss for the second round, it was a "line in the sand moment".
"It feels different around training now," he said.
"We're getting the numbers there now and it's a different attitude."
It showed on Saturday, although there is still a lot for them to work on, he said.
On Saturday off to Narrabri for another big game, he admitted what happened last time they were out there is certainly providing a bit of extra motivation.
In the other games Quirindi make the long trip to Moree while Walcha host Inverell.
