Collingwood star Jordan DeGoey has made his intentions clear, with the polarising Pie stating he's hungry for team success over individual honours.
De Goey was a key figure in the Magpies' grand final campaign four years ago, leading the club's goals tally for the season and booted a team-high three majors in his side's heart-breaking five-point loss to West Coast.
The Pies have since fallen to the lower rungs of the AFL ladder, placing 17th last season before seeing a change to their senior coaching role for the first time since 2012, with Craig McRae replacing the outgoing Nathan Buckley.
In McRae's first season at the helm, Collingwood amassed a preliminary final finish in what was a surprising ascension on the AFL.
The change of culture under McRae has given Magpies players and their fans a new-found level of confidence to strive for premiership success.
For De Goey, being pictured atop the dais on that one Saturday in September is what he's working toward, with individual honours seen as no priority as he looks to better himself for the betterment of the club.
"(The) overarching goal for this pre-season is obviously to get as fit as possible," De Goey told theย Unlaced Podcast.ย
"Then before the season, I'll catch up with my close mates and kind of work out to set goals, what I think I could achieve, and what we could achieve as a team, and then how my goals will impact the team.
"You just kinda go: 'If I do this, okay, this is gonna make the team better'.
"Because at the end of the day, you want to win premierships.
"I couldn't give a f**k about personal awards, anything like that. People remember you for premierships, especially for Collingwood. It's the legacy.
"For me, that is (the) ultimate goal, and so my goals are always built around how to make that possible."
De Goey noted his training regimen and diet ahead of the new year have placed him on track for a potential career-best campaign, working on his fitness ahead of his ninth season in black and white.
But while he continues to put in the work where possible, his efforts haven't always been rewarded.
The 26-year-old detailed a recent encounter with a woman that criticised his habits for a moment when he wasn't on the training track.
โThe other day I just was eating lunch and this old lady - she would've been 70 or 75 - comes up to me and says, โCongratulations, you guys had a great year'. And she goes, โI see (Scott) Pendlebury is training, why aren't you?',โ he recalled.
โThat's what she said to me. It was the first time I had ever met her and I was sitting there trying to enjoy lunch. I said, โHow do you know I am not training?'
โShe said, โI don't', I said, โExactly. I would appreciate you not saying that.' That's just proving people hear this stuff and automatically believe it. Just because I'm not one to consistently post photos of me training or other things, I prefer to do it alone or with a close mate. It's hard work and all the other players are doing it.
โSometimes you get pigeonholed into a category because it's something in your past or something that's happened in your past.
โFor me it's just trying to build to be something different, to be something better than that.โ
De Goey and the Magpies now look toward their second season under McRae, one that will see a number of new faces pull on the black and white stripes following a busy off-season at the club.
The additions of key personnel have De Goey seeing similarities between next year's side and the one that reached the grand final in 2018, with each squad member set to play a significant role in the side.
"We had a great trade period. Bobby Hill, Tom Mitchell, (Dan) McStay, yeah 100%," De Goey said. "They're filling these roles that we've needed.
"In 2018, no one expected us to be anywhere near (the grand final). We didn't have the most amazing team on paper, we just had players who are gonna play their role. And that's what we did each and every week. That's why we got to where we did.
"2022 is very similar to that. On paper, it's not amazing. Like it's not like 'wow, they got so many amazing names' or whatever. It was just guys that play their role and are really consistent.
"So next year, we can do that. And these new guys come in and fill the roles that we've needed. I think it's exciting."
De Goey is set to officially begin pre-season training with the club in the coming weeks, while most AFL clubs had their first to fourth-year players begin sessions this week.
