WHEN Adam Schneider started the 2013 season, he thought he'd celebrate his milestone 200th game pretty quickly.

He was due to play game No.196 in round one and couldn't imagine experiencing the same run with hamstring problems he had encountered the season before.

But the St Kilda forward was set for another disastrous year. Soft-tissue problems allowed him to play in round two – and then not again until round 20.

The final four games enabled him to reach the milestone in round 23, and celebrate the Saints' 71-point win over Fremantle that coincided with the farewell games for retiring trio Jason Blake, Justin Koschitzke and Stephen Milne.

"I thought 'I'll get this done easily' but unfortunately it came down to the last game," Schneider told AFL.com.au this week.

"Then, it probably couldn't have been scripted any better.

"To play with three of the greats of the club in their last game of footy and not just play but have a win, and with the way we won it, it was probably one of the most special games of footy I've played in.

"It was something unbelievable to experience and be part of."

Schneider has faced his football mortality in the past two years. Problems with his left hamstring in 2012, followed by late-season foot issues, meant he played just eight games.

Then, he broke down again this year with more aggravation in two different spots of the hamstring. He tweaked it twice at training, which set him back initially, and then simply couldn't get things right.

"Once you do it once or twice, you've got to take the more careful approach and make sure you don't do it again and that's what we had to do in the end," he said.

"I think it was just finding a bit of luck. Missing 16 weeks with a hammy wasn't the ideal situation but it was what it was and persistence was the key.

"It's so easy to throw in the towel and pull the pin on it but I just kept going at it and never gave up and I was lucky enough to get back in the team and play some footy at the end of the year, which is all I wanted to do."

He was out of contract at the end of 2013 and admitted he wouldn't have been surprised if the Saints delisted him.

At 29, with just 13 games to his name over two years, he believed he was going to be lucky to keep his spot while many in the football world confidently predicted his retirement.

In fact, he was lumped together with the rest of the retirees in a photo montage tribute at a function during the AFL finals.   

When the Saints offered him a one-year extension the week after their last game, he was thrilled.

But, he knew he would have to do some serious work to give himself the best chance of playing beyond 2014.

A third successive year blighted by soft-tissue injuries just wouldn't cut it.

Schneider kept training during his family holiday to Bali, and when he got back to Australia, teamed up with Lenny Hayes to start their pre-season ahead of schedule.

Hayes, who battled calf injuries this year and signed a one-year deal towards the end of the season, was also determined to enter 2014 having done the groundwork to play every game.

The two experienced players trained together, did plenty of running, and motivated each other when things got tough.

Accordingly, Schneider started the official pre-season with the rest of the group – something he hasn't done for several years – and he has dropped four kilos.  

He knows it's his last chance but he believes not only can he return to his best next season, he can keep playing beyond that.

"I'm shattered I've waited so long, 12 or 13 years or whatever it is to do this, but it's just a step I think I needed to take to hopefully keep me out on the field a bit longer," he said.

"I've just got to get the body right. I haven't had much luck in the past two years with the body so I'm really out to redeem myself and make up for it because you never know when your career can be over.

"I'm going to make sure I go out giving everything I've got and hopefully get another year or two or three out of footy."