Given Holmes was 22 and Rohan was 33, the fact the veteran was able to keep up with his teammate confirmed what he already knew … he still had it.

While his Geelong career quietly ended last month, Rohan wants to continue his 15-year AFL career at a third club.

“I feel like I have still got stuff to offer,” he says.

“I have still got my pace, the explosion and the strengths that I have always had.

“At training I used to test myself against Max Holmes and the quick ones and I was still with them.

“I’ve also got the hunger to keep going and personally I feel like I can impact at that level still.”

After 204 games — 106 of those in Sydney — Rohan sensed his time at GMHBA Stadium was coming to an end when talks for a new contract were put off until the end of the season.

He has no ill feeling towards the Cats, more appreciation for reviving his career and getting him that elusive premiership in 2022 at his fourth attempt.

“I completely understand how the footy system works,” he says.

A SPECIAL BOND WITH SCOTT

His No. 1 supporter during his six seasons at Geelong was senior coach Chris Scott.

He continually went into bat for the much maligned forward who was regularly in the cross hairs of commentators and fans.

“I love our relationship and always will,” Rohan says.

“Scotty, he has always had my back and I have had his.

“If that’s crashing packs to bring the ball down to a Tyson Stengle and those boys or playing up the ground higher so Jeremy Cameron and Hawk (Tom Hawkins) didn’t have to leave the 50,

“He (Scott) just put me in the spots where I was going to benefit the team. I have always been a team player first and not worried about how many touches I get.”

When asked if he was misunderstood by the AFL world, Rohan says: “Definitely.

“Whatever role the team needs me, I am always happy to play it and not second guess it. The coaches know best, if that is what they need that is what I am going to do.

“Early on (with the fans) it got a bit tough in the Sydney days but when I was at Geelong it didn’t bother me. As you get older you don’t read into it and you don’t listen to what people say outside the four walls, just listen to the people who actually mean a lot to you.”

Rohan’s poor finals record was a regular criticism thrown his way, right up until his matchwinning qualifying final performance against Collingwood in 2022 which shaped the premiership success.

He exploded in the final quarter taking a huge pack mark and converting a crucial goal – his third for the night — to put Geelong back in front.

“That would have to be one of the best games (of my career),” Rohan said.

“I had a good match-up and I didn’t have to be, I wouldn’t say a lockdown forward, but I had a good match-up and was able to play a bit more freely, just do what I can do and I happened to be in the right spot at the right times.”

‘YOU CAN SEE THE DENT IN MY HEAD’

He was in the wrong spot in the last game of his career at Geelong when he suffered a fractured skull in a freak incident in the VFL semi-final.

A stray elbow from an opponent broke the front bone of his forehead.

“The surgeon said I just got hit in the right spot and that you can get hit there 50 times and nothing happens,” Rohan explains.

“They had to cut the top of my head and what they do is pull your face down, put in these little plates and then push it back up.”

Rohan doesn’t want the gruesome picture of the 56 staples in his head to be the final image of his AFL career and one which sticks in the mind of potential suitors.

“The photos made it look worse than it was, it was only like cosmetic surgery so I didn’t have a dent in my forehead for the rest of my life,” he says.

“It was all fine and I was back training within a week. If we made the grand final I was a chance to play in that as I was quickly back training with all the boys.

“I don’t know if that has scared people off or what but the head is fine, there were no concussion issues and it’s just so I didn’t have a dent in my forehead for the rest of my life.

DREAMING OF A THIRD CLUB

Rohan is prepared to play anywhere and if a club wants him to compete for a spot over the pre-season, even if it’s over the other side of the country, he will pack up his young family in Geelong and get there.

“I understand spots are hard and there is a good draft coming up,” he says.

“But I still feel like I could match it with these younger guys.

“I don’t care if it is in Perth or Adelaide, I’m happy to go anywhere and help out a team that might need my experience and leadership on and off the field.

“I have been at two successful clubs, Geelong and Sydney, two teams that do it differently but have massive success and know what it takes to be at the top level each week and each year.

“I’m also really keen in my coaching at the moment, I’ve been doing that in the AFLW for the last two years and even in the VFL when I played with them at Geelong I had a leadership role.

“So if a club is willing to pick me up they get that as well.”

Rohan urged clubs not to use his age as a “barrier” and that he’d thought long and hard about walking away but knew he couldn’t when he still had miles in the legs.

“People say you know when it’s time and those kinds of things,” he says.

“If I was really slowed up or the body was really banged up I would obviously agree with that.

“But I still have a bit of speed in there, I’ve still got the jump and the physicality. My head is fine, I’ve had no surgery at the end of the year.

“Fifteen years is a good career, I’ve got a premiership and 200 odd games but there is this itch that I know I don’t think I’m done yet.

“I’ve got the hunger to go around again.”