Nikolai Topor-Stanley will always remember his Canberra roots as he stares down the barrel of his 15th A-League season, with hopes to re-sign to his longtime club the Newcastle Jets.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The central defender took home the club's top awards - A-League Player of the Year and the Members A-League Player of the Year - on Friday night.
It marks the third time the 36-year-old has won the POTY award at the club, after taking out the 2010/11 and 2018/19 awards.
"It's obviously a nice feeling getting rewarded and I guess, acknowledged for your efforts throughout the year, albeit in a disappointing season as a team," he said.
"We're definitely not happy with where we're at at the moment, but you know, this is sport and we'll grow as a team and will grow as individuals."
Despite his accolades, Topor-Stanley is off contract with the Jets following the conclusion of the 2020/21 A-League season. He said talks were still continuing with the club, and he had no plans of following club captain Nigel Boogaard into retirement.
"Nothing has been finalised, but I've been here for a long time and I'd like to continue to keep on going and whether that's at the Jets or not remains to be seen," he said.
"I still feel like I'm contributing, not only contributing but I feel I have a lot to give at this level and I'm dominating in my own mind, maybe people disagree but I feel like, as long as my body and my mind allow me to continue, I'll put my hand up to keep going."
MORE IN SPORT:
As the second most capped player ever in the league's history, with 344 games under his belt, his minutes on the park equate to 21 days straight playing in Australia's top league.
He said did not imagine he would end up playing more than 300 games in the A-League when he began his junior career playing at Tuggeranong United FC and Woden-Weston FC.
"I didn't really set myself out a goal to play X amount of games or anything like that. I think once I realised that I could make this a career opportunity, it has always just been year by year and taking it one step at a time. I think that attitudes kind of held me in good stead not getting too far ahead of myself," he said.
"It sounds a bit corny but, I don't take my place for granted, I work hard to put myself in the best position to play each game as it comes."
During his senior career he played for Canberra Olympic FC and Belconnen United FC before joining the territory's soccer program and later pushing into the AIS program.
"[The AIS] was my first real taste of full time football and it was in some ways even better than professional setups. We had everything that we needed there ... we travelled the world and got to experience what full time football is like," he said.
"I loved my time in Canberra, I'm a Canberra boy, even though I get teased a lot for being a Canberra boy I'm still proud of my roots and I'll never forget where I came from."
His accolades follow a disappointing season for the side, after they finished second last on the ladder, head coach Craig Deans stepped down and they farewelled leading scorer Roy O'Donovan.
However, Topor-Stanley said they still managed to send Boogaard off on a positive note, with a win over Melbourne City in the last round to avoid the wooden spoon.
"He's given so much of himself to the game that it was nice for him to be recognised by the club and ... league wide for his efforts ... so it was a nice to send him off a winner," he said.
"We had a small victory in that we beat the best team in the country by a mile, on the last day of the competition, to not come last. I mean, it's a small victory, but for us it was huge to send him off on a positive note."