JETS utility Jason Hoffman learnt early on that job security was a short-term prospect in football.
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The events of the past fortnight have only strengthened that theory.
The Jets players and staff were stood down last Wednesday as the financial pain from the COVID-19 pandemic bit hard.
The Jets have registered for the government's Jobkeeper allowance for all employees, which will ease the financial burden by $750 a week.
The players are continuing to follow individual programs in the hope of playing the final four games.
On Monday, they did a pilates session together on the Zoom conferencing app.
"Scotty Thomas got us going with some pilates work and then we stayed on-line and had a chat to one another," Hoffman said.
While Hoffman signed a two-year extension and hopes to be back on the pitch as soon as possible, he is using the down time to think about his future.
The 31-year-old is studying a business degree, majoring in sports management, but is considering changing focus to education.
"The past few weeks have been a wake-up call," he said. "Job security has always been a short-term prospect as a footballer. When times get really tough there is no real security at all. If I can prepare myself for when I transition out of the game, hopefully on my own terms, I will be in a job that is secure and I can enjoy my lifestyle. My sister is a teacher, my mum was a teacher, my mother-in-law is a teacher. I have six weeks to make a decision and see if I can get some credit to switch across."
In the meantime, Hoffman is maintaining fitness and doing projects around the house.
"We have a program and a lot of it is position specific," Hoffman said. "I was training with Dimi [Petratos] at Ford Oval. Now that we have to train on our own, I have been heading to a local park. There is a brick wall there which means I can work on my passing. There is a lot of skill work, juggling the ball and things like that. We are also ticking the boxes on fitness. We want to make sure we are doing enough to maintain our fitness levels so that if we get the green light, we can be ready to go."