Ben Creagh is like the marathon runner who goes all jelly-legged at the 42km mark. Stumbling and staggering with the finish line in sight, just hoping to cross that elusive threshold.
"People keep telling me this," laughed Creagh, just four games shy of vaulting past former teammate and Dragons assistant coach Ben Hornby as the club's most capped player.
"They've been saying it since last year and they've all put the mozzer on me. I've kept telling them, 'I'm 31 and yes it's only four games away, but it's a long, long way away at this age' – and then you see what's happened this year."
The truth of the matter is Creagh doesn't know if he will be back in 2016 and hasn't a clue about next year either. Battling a chronic knee injury and stranded on 270 career games since March – only three away from Hornby's record – many would argue a big carrot remains in front of Creagh.
But having struggled to walk around the house with young son Ellis – wife Aislinn is pregnant with their second child – his priorities have suddenly changed.
"I wish I could say I'm playing in three weeks time but I really can't," Creagh said. "And I'm really not worried about [the record]. It's a long, long way away and something I'm not even worrying about.
"Two weeks after the first [surgery] the doctors kept telling me this is how you're knee is going to be. I thought, 'I'm not going to be able to play again, I'm not going to be able to run again'. I was struggling to walk around.
"I'm glad they were able to find what was wrong after the first surgery [joint infection] and we were able to fix it."
Dragons coach Paul McGregor has told Creagh to delay negotiations on his future until he gets back on the park – if he manages to do so.
Alongside fellow 31-year-old Benji Marshall, St George Illawarra could lose more than 500 games of NRL experience over the summer if both players aren't tabled contract extensions.
"Having most of the season off is not a good thing," Creagh said. "It may be good for the rest of the body, the shoulders and knees, but it's not good when you're off contract and thinking about retirement to try to make a decision. [But] that's how the cards have fallen.
"I think it's the worst time to be making a decision about my future right now. I need to wait until I'm back playing again and then I'll talk to Mary [McGregor] about what I want to do and what he wants to do."
