Melbourne Storm have had 189 players pull on the purple jersey, none have cared about it more than Ryan Hoffman.
In the eyes of Craig Bellamy the Storm veteran has been a pioneer in instilling the Storm 'culture' that is talked about with great esteem.
Hoffman announced on Tuesday that this season would be his last, bringing to an end a career spanning 16 years and almost more than 350 games in the NRL and UK Super League.
The adoration will come over the remaining nine weeks and it was his coach who was one of the first to summarise the Hoffman legacy.
"He is the best clubman I have ever coached," Craig Bellamy said.
"I played with his Dad, Jay, at Canberra, we played together for six or seven years and his Dad was exactly the same, one hell of a clubman.
"You can see why Ryan is the person he is, you wouldn't meet better people than Jay and Jenny Hoffman.
"He has been a real credit to the game and a real credit to the clubs that he has played with. He has done everything in the game, won Grand Finals, won Premierships, won a State of Origin series.
"He has been a wonderful ambassador for our game and our Club. I am really glad he is going to play his last game of rugby league in purple."
Storm fans will admire him with as much admiration as they always have in his 12 years in Melbourne.
However Hoffman was his typically humble self on Tuesday, saying that the feelings of gratitude were all his.
"This Club and the NRL don't owe me anything, I owe them for giving me the opportunity to play rugby league," Hoffman said.
"When it comes to being a player within a Club you've got to do everything you can to give back to the game because it is going to give you so much and give you so many opportunities.
"You have to make sure the game is in a better position when you leave."
