By Caden Helmers
He inspired the Collingwood Magpies to an AFL premiership in 1990, and has been charged with role of preparing title contenders Geelong for their best chance at a title in five years.
Now, Australian Sports Hall of Famer and kickboxing legend Stan "The Man" Longinidis has joined the Queanbeyan Tigers as they aim for an AFL Canberra three-peat.
Stan 'The Man' Longinidis.Credit: Joe Armao
And with finals drawing nearer, Tigers player-coach Kade Klemke says there has been no mention of banning the "f-word" in the Queanbeyan dressing rooms.
"To be honest we've been thinking about finals since the start of the year," Klemke said.
Kade Klemke.Credit: Melissa Adams
"We're not thinking too far ahead. Yes, we're going to make finals but we want to still make sure that we're improving each week."
Queanbeyan came from third to upset an unbeaten Belconnen side in last year's grand final, but Klemke concedes the Tigers won't be able to fly "under the radar" twice in a row after toppling competition heavyweights Ainslie and Belconnen.
"We will be the hunted this year," Klemke said.
"We really need to make sure that we can go to another level. We'll be working hard every week. When we train, we make sure we do everything that we can to a tee, so we have no regrets."
The "no regrets" mantra was instilled in Queanbeyan's players when Longinidis flew from Melbourne to speak to the young Tigers outfit at a mid-week training session.
"He didn't just speak on footy, he was talking about life," Klemke said.
"Life is so short. You can't just blaze around being lazy, and just taking it comfortably, because life can go that quickly. You don't want to have regrets.
"He talked about the hard work he put in to be successful. He believes that every athlete has the talent, but it's the hard work they put in that makes them successful."
A veteran of 101 fights, former world champion Longinidis is no stranger to success in the sporting arena.
After enduring what he described as "a real challenging year last year" after losing his mother to cancer and being diagnosed with aggressive bowel cancer himself, Longinidis stressed that the Tigers' should not take last year's victory for granted.
"What I try to encourage is how true champions think," Longinidis said.
"[I speak about] how they behave, and how they react, and how they respond. It's all about character."
It's a trait Klemke believes his side will need to show plenty of as they head into the business end of the season.
"The competition's probably gone to another level with Ainslie coming in," Klemke said.
"They're a very strong outfit, so would our team last year have beaten Ainslie? It would have been a lot tougher. I honestly do believe Ainslie's side is probably better than [Belconnen's] grand final team was last year."