Off-contract Jet captain Nigel Boogaard is refusing to look beyond this season despite a strong start to the campaign for the team and himself.
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Boogaard battled injury last year, missing 10 games, but he has strung together eight consecutive 90-minute performances this season after sitting out the opening round suspended.
The 34-year-old centre-back's future was the subject of speculation last year, especially after the signing of Victory defender James Donachie. However, Donachie then went on a one-year loan to Goa and Boogaard agreed to a one-season contract to stay at Newcastle.
Boogaard, now with 265 games in the A-League, has helped Newcastle bounce back from four losses to start the year to sit in sixth spot following a five-game unbeaten run.
The Jets have kept clean sheets in their past three and the experienced pairing of Boogaard and Nikolai Topor-Stanley at the back have played no small part in the success.
Boogaard said it was nice to play consistent football after last season's frustrations.
"Obviously being able to get a full pre-season under the belt, that was the biggest thing for me," Boogaard said.
"As you get older, if you miss a large chunk of pre-season, you are playing catch up for the remainder of the year, so it's been good."
However, he said he was not thinking about what the solid start would mean for his future at the club.
"I just want to have a good year and if that comes about at the end of the year, it does," he said. "To be honest, I'm not thinking about that. I think if you place too much pressure and you think about that, it starts to affect you.
"And I'm just enjoying things at the moment. It's a good bunch of boys, a good coaching staff and we're playing good football.
"The club is going in the right direction, and just being a local, knowing that we are, that's pleasing for me."
Boogaard manages Achilles tendonitis and said the knee injury he played through to take the field in Newcastle's 2018 grand final loss still gives him trouble at times. However, he said the issues were not enough to stop him playing and he believed he still had "a fair bit to give" at the top level.
"I'm from here, I love this place and I just want to do whatever I can do in my power to make sure we are successful," he said. "If I can walk away from the Jets and they are in a better place than when I came here, then I'll be happy. Because I'm a player at the moment, but I'll be a fan up in the stands regardless. It's just exciting times for the club."
The Jets next take on Wellington Phoenix at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
"We're only a third of the way through the season," he added.
"There's still a long way to go and I know the back-end is going to be quite busy and it will test our depth as well.
"It's pleasing this year that the squad, the depth we've got is probably close to the strongest since I've been back. It's just exciting that we're playing well and we're in a good place. It's nice to see that after a few lean seasons, both on and off the park, we're heading in the right direction."
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