Central Districts veteran Joel Goodenough plays 300th game

JOEL Goodenough admits playing finals was barely a consideration when he came out of retirement to help perennial struggler Central Districts.

300 games Goodenough for Joel

JOEL Goodenough admits playing finals was barely a consideration when he came out of retirement to help perennial state league basketball struggler Central Districts this season.

Central had not played finals in 21 seasons and Goodenough initially recommenced his 17-season career to provide an experienced head. Fast forward six months and the Lions are preparing for post-season action, while Goodenough has become the only active player in the Central ABL to go past 300 games. "When I signed up, I thought it might be a tough year,'' Goodenough says. "It's a fairly young group and they lost their captain Matt Clarke at the end of last year, so I came in after speaking to (coach Scott Whitmore) because they needed a point guard and they needed someone with some experience. "It's turned out to be a really, really enjoyable year. "It's just a great bunch of guys and we've won more games than perhaps some people expected us to." Goodenough drew the curtain on a 16-year career at the Eastern Mavericks and the Southern Tigers at the end of the 2011 season to spend time with his baby daughter Ella. But, having played hoops since age five, basketball was in his blood and he could not resist Whitmore's offer to return - even if it meant commuting between Mount Barker and Central's Evanston Gardens base. "I've been playing basketball all of my life and I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if I wasn't playing,'' Goodenough says. "It's a way of life for me. "Playing 300 games is something I think I'll look back on one day with a fair bit of pride." The personal highlight of Goodenough's ­career was playing in Mount Barker-based Eastern's first and only championship in 2004. He switched to Southern in 2006 but has not played finals since that 2004 season. "It's pretty exciting,'' he said of the prospect of finals with Centrals this season. "The club hasn't played in finals for so long and I think it will be great for us to ­experience some post-season action and hopefully do more than just make up the numbers."