PHIL Greening reckons his one-year contract extension with Wasps could be the last with the club.
The hooker, who still suffers with a toe injury, is realistic at how long he will remain playing rugby at the top level.
He said: "I'm going to have one more year with Wasps if my foot lets me do that, then have a year or two out and see what happens after that.
"For the last 18 months, I've never known how long the foot is going to last. It was a big shock to me but a lot of rugby players have to realise their career is over soon.
"For 30 years of your life, you've got to work. It's a new era of your life. You sometimes think it's going to last forever but it never does.
"You don't make enough money that you can fall back on, like footballers can do, so it's very important for rugby players to look at their futures.
"I've managed to play and be out on the pitch so it's been good to me, especially after being told I would have to retire.
"It's fantastic. Every game I've played for Wasps I've cherished. It's really important to me that I played every game."
The 29-year-old, who has won 25 caps for England, is considering being a coach when he retires and has already completed his coaching badges up to level three - the step below being able to coach Premiership players.
He said: "I quite like it. I would miss the whole involvement in rugby so I'd look to go into that. We'll see what comes of it.
"The Wasps environment helps enormously. Gats Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards don't have the last say on everything. The players have a lot of say and everyone helps out. In a way, everyone's a little coach at Wasps so that's been good for me."
Greening went out to Australia this week to spend time with Super 12 coach John Mitchell, before seeing how New South Wales train.
He then returns for another operation on his foot before the start of the pre-season under Wasps' new director of rugby Ian McGeechan.
Greening said: "Geech will bring in new ideas but the nucleus of the whole squad and the coaching set-up is still there. Everything is in place for the next five years. Geech will only make us better."
Wasps chief executive David Davies said: "Phil is a world class hooker and proved last season he still is one of the best in the business. His leadership and experience is something that will be needed next season, especially after the departure of Will Green and Craig Dowd."
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