'Hungry' Aubusson didn't want token deal with Roosters

Mitch Aubusson could have waited until the end of the 2019 Telstra Premiership finals series to see if the Roosters could muster back-to-back titles before making a call on his future.

Winning a third NRL premiership, alongside his 2013 and 2018 bling, had a nice ring to it.

He could have left on a high – a lifelong devotion to his club rewarded in the best way.

"It didn’t come into my thinking," Aubusson said this week at Roosters HQ while preparing to meet the Panthers at the SCG on Saturday.

"For whatever happens this year, it was more about the hunger for me to be successful with all the young guys we have now in the playing group.

"I could just see this team getting even better and I wanted to be part of that. For next year I will be luckily."

A one-year deal was penned and announced two weeks ago. Aubusson, who turns 32 in October, reiterated this week he would never play against the Roosters and moving to Super League was not an option with his young family.

But it was not out of desperation that he wanted to play on in the NRL – simple devotion did the trick.

"I hadn't made the call earlier in the year because I just wanted to make sure my body was right, my mind was right," he said.

"I didn't want a 'token' offer of going around if I wanted to. I wanted to really feel good about things and go after it again next year – the club deserves that.

'I wake up hungry every day to get better – that drive never left me and now I'm looking forward to next year'

Mitch Aubusson

"I wake up hungry every day to get better – that drive never left me and now I'm looking forward to next year.

"It's never been work for me playing and spending time here with the players and coaching and administration staff. I just want to get better.

"There was no way I was going to play against this club. It's home for me."

And now, sitting on 285 games with the potential to reach 290 by season's end, Aubusson could end up being the Roosters most-capped one-club player in its 111-year history. More than 1,000 players have been first graders at this proud foundation club.

Only Luke Ricketson (301) and Anthony Minichiello (302) are ahead of him.

"That's so low on my radar... I'm not down-playing it but it doesn’t even register  with me," Aubusson said.

"It's not why I play the game. I want to contribute and be a part of a successful team and challenge for competitions. That's what it is about. Getting a group of guys to do something special was the main factor for me to re-sign."

Minichiello is still involved at the club as an ambassador but the pair haven't discussed his potential dethroning.

"I haven't spoken to him about it... he might be similar to me about the record stuff… but there's only one 'Mini' don't worry about that," Aubusson said.

Aubusson is still a rare breed – like Paul Gallen (Sharks) and Tim Mannah (Eels) - in remaining a one-club player in this salary cap era.

"It's getting harder and harder to be a one-club payer but for me it was really important that I did that," Aubusson said.

"I knew a few years ago I wanted to do that. You still have to work hard, keep your standards up to get that. So I'm really proud of that fact I get to do that especially at a club like the Roosters, where not many people have done it here before."