Going into his 20th season as a professional footballer, defender Noh Rahman is ready to help his new team Tampines Rovers to S.League glory.
Since earning his stripes as an understudy to Singapore's legendary right-back Kadir Yahaya at Geylang United in 1997, the veteran has gone on to play more than 200 S.League games, with four different clubs.
Tampines will be his fifth side and Noh Rahman is looking forward to the 21st S.League season with the same enthusiasm he did as a 17-year-old.
"The day I feel there is no drive to show up for training, then that's the sign to stop," said the 35-year-old.
"I always believe that as long as I can still contribute and have no problems in terms of maintaining my fitness and body conditioning, then I should be ok.
"Till today, I still have the same passion as when I was a young boy watching the Malaysia Cup heroes at the national stadium with my father and I wake up looking forward to every training session and match like I used to."
Noh Rahman, who represented Singapore 79 times and won two AFF Suzuki Cup titles, recognises the importance of his new teammates.
Head coach V. Sundramoorthy has assembled one of the strongest squads in the S.League this season which means that household names like Shakir Hamzah, Izwan Mahbud and Shahdan Sulaiman will be vying for spots alongside Noh Rahman.
"I have 19 years of experience and I can tell you that we cannot afford to walk onto the pitch and expect people to give us three points." he said.
"People are talking about us [Tampines] becoming champions this season but I don't believe so. Not that I don't believe in our ability. This team have the potential with the players we have but it is going to be a long hard season.
"We must not look too far ahead of ourselves. Just stay focused during every training session and get the job done in every single match."
As for his role in a team who have almost two national team players vying for each starting spot, Noh Rahman says he accepts the challenge.
He said: "Sundram had a chat with me before signing, and while he has put together a strong team, he believes the players are young with potential to go further.
"I am the oldest in the team, and together with Farra [Fahrudin Mustafic], Sundram said I am going to play an important role of guiding the younger players. So this is a new challenge and I look forward to another good season ahead."
The Eastern giants have no fewer than nine LionsXII players, together with a slew of S.League stars like Ismadi Mukhtar and Fazrul. But in order to succeed, Noh Rahman singled out four players who must stand up and be counted when the domestic calendar kicks off on Feb. 12.
"Izwan is key for us because you always need a strong goalkeeper in every winning team. I also believe that Hafiz [Sujad] is an important player at Tampines. I saw him play for LionsXII and he is a very good utility player who can defend and attack very comfortably. It is difficult to narrow down but if I must, Shahdan and Fazrul will be vital in attack too.
"Every local will be aiming to be in the Suzuki Cup squad at the end of the year, and Fazrul, being one of the highest scoring local players in the last few years is a very good sign that he has consistency in his game. Of course, we must give him the service and support for him to put in a lot of goals this season."
If Sundram can get the team of stars he has brought in to deliver the goods on the pitch, Noh Rahman could be holding the S.League trophy aloft for the third time in his career, having tasted victory with the Eagles and SAFFC before.