Few players make it to 300 games in the AFL, even fewer achieve the milestone with one club. Sitting on 266 games, Todd Goldstein is determined to add his name to the list of North Melbourne legends.

Currently sitting 11th on the club’s games-record list, the 33-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches not just that target, but also the all-time AFL hitout record.

With that magical game number 300 inching ever closer, Goldstein says he is determined to serve the club for as long as he can.

“I’ve had some great people ahead of me like ‘Boomer’ (Brent Harvey) and Drew Petrie who also had a good crack at it (playing on in their 30s), and while I continue to enjoy it, I am definitely keen to play on,” he told The Herald Sun.

“I was lucky enough to be at the club when Glenn Archer, Adam Simpson, Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey were there. They taught me what it means to be a part of this club. I feel like it is my job to continue and we can’t afford to lose too many old guys.

“I think if your body stays reasonably healthy then it all comes down to how you feel in the mind. I am really enjoying this group of players coming through (at North Melbourne) and the new role of trying to help develop and teach the midfield group coming through has definitely given me a new lease of life.

“I am probably putting together the most consistent three years I have had over the space of my career. I think it comes from a lot of stability and contentment in my life.

“I am at a point now where I understand how to prepare myself. I work pretty hard in the off-season and I know what I need to do.

“If I wasn’t playing well enough, I wouldn’t want them to keep me going for the sake of it, but I really want to play a role in helping this club become competitive again.

“That’s why I am confident I still have some footy left in me, and hopefully plenty more.”

Like all AFL players, Goldstein is so much more than a footballer, with the number 22 taking on the challenge of raising five children and completing a law degree, while being one of the dominant rucks at the highest level.

Despite the tight schedule, he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s hard and it is hectic and we are very, very busy, but we love it,” Goldstein said.

“I get a lot of help from ‘Flick’ (Felicity) and we get a hell of a lot of help from my mum (Andrea).

“This weekend I had the trip to Perth (leaving Sunday for a Monday night game), we had three games of basketball on Saturday morning and a game of (junior) footy on Sunday, which mum took them to.

“When we have all the kids, we stay out at mum’s place in the Dandenongs. We actually need a bigger place to fit everyone in.”

With the rumour mill circling at the end of 2019 on whether Goldstein would seek an opportunity at Geelong, he said it was an easy decision to re-commit to the club that served him so well, particularly through some lows he experienced in 2015.

“I was tossing and turning a lot about it, and it only came about when it was a question of whether I was going to get another contract with North Melbourne,” Goldstein said.

“The club was going through a transition period where we lost the coach, the CEO and the footy manager in about a month. They had a fair bit of turmoil.

“But I always found it really hard to imagine playing for another club and coming up against the likes of Jack Ziebell or Robbie Tarrant or Ben Cunnington. These are guys I have called my brothers for 10 or 15 years, through the good times and the bad times.

“I’ve always been brought up with loyalty and wanted to be a 300-game player at the footy. That’s still my goal.

“We’ll find out whether I can do that in the next 18 months or so.”