Legendary prop James Slipper has nearly spent half of his life as a professional Rugby player, but there's one main reason why he keeps coming back.
Slipper is about to embark on his 17th Super Rugby season as the ACT Brumbies open their campaign against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday.
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Retired from Test footy, the 36-year-old is four appearances away from breaking the Super Rugby record set by Wyatt Crockett, with the prop sitting down with Rugby.com.au to explain his motivation for 2026.
“I enjoy being part of the team and I'm still trying to get better as well," he said.
“I'm about to end my career, whether it's this year or years to come, but I'm still enjoying the game. That's probably the biggest thing that motivates me, being part of a team that's highly focused on being the best.
“It's very rare you'll find a rugby player who's the finished product, maybe Jonah Lomu or someone like that might have been, but not me.
“I'm still working on getting better and obviously set-piece and around the field, but I guess rugby goes in trends too. The game's always moving and changing, so just being on top of that as well."
Slipper's experience is massive for a Brumbies squad that has seen significant turnover.
There is no Noah Lolesio, Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, while Allan Alaalatoa and Tom Wright will spend significant time on the sidelines.
“I find it exciting, to be honest, whenever you have a bit of a changeover," he said.
"We've lost a bit of experience and we've also lost a couple of players to injury that will feature later in the year so there have been a few holes that we had to fill in, but one thing I know is the Brumbies are really good at finding players that come through their own academy and pathway systems.
“When they get given an opportunity, they'll take it, so I'm expecting that to happen again this year, and you'll see some really classy players."
Whether this is his last year or not, Slipper has a clear mindset heading about his Rugby future.
"To be fair, the mindset is just take it one year at a time. That's pretty much all I can give you at the moment," he added.
“I still really enjoy my Rugby and until I lose that, I'll keep playing.”
