What drives Rick Goodchild's hunger heading into the 2024 Premier League

The elusive midfielder has achieved plenty since making his IPL first-grade debut as a 16-year-old, including grand final and Bert Bampton Cup success.

However, one huge goal still remains within his sights: winning a league championship.

It's something that Goodchild and Wollongong Olympic hope to rectify this year, with the men in sky blue kicking off their campaign against Helensburgh on Sunday, March 3.

2024 will mark his third campaign with Olympic.

It started on a brilliant note, with Goodchild and his teammates claiming the 2022 grand final against rivals Wollongong United.

They then didn't achieve the league success that they craved last year, however, Olympic still managed to win the Bampton Cup trophy.

It's left Goodchild hungry for more success this season.

"Getting a league championship win is on my bucket list," he told the Mercury.

"The league title is what I think is the pinnacle because you have to be consistent for 22 weeks. You have to manage injuries and get through all of that, so that's definitely high on our agenda for 2024."

Goodchild's IPL journey began 17 years ago as a teenager at the White Eagles. He then had a stint at Bulli before he enjoyed seven years at Tarrawanna.

The midfielder then moved to Corrimal briefly, however, his stint in the red and white was stunted due to COVID.

Goodchild then switched to Premier League powerhouse Olympic ahead of the 2022 season - and he's never looked back.

"It's a really good space to be. The club is great, they do everything for you that we need as players. The coaching staff is great, and we've kept the core group of players," he said.

"We've had some changeover this year, we've brought in some quality that was needed to add a bit of depth - which we probably struggled with last year. But the core guys have been there for the three years and we'll look to build on a year where we underachieved to our standards."

Goodchild put pen to paper on a new deal in mid-January, joining the likes of skipper Chris Price, Guy Knight and Harry Callahan in re-signing with Olympic.

The club has also been active in transfer market, enticing former Coniston captain Lukas Stergiou, Bulli duo Jarvis Patterson and Kyle Jackson, Thistles sharpshooter Kade Kinsella and NPL NSW championship-winner Jason Madonis to don the sky blue jersey in 2024.

"My body still feels great and I'll play until I feel like I'm no longer up to the standard that is around me," Goodchild said.

"I think the hunger is always there for a group like ours. Every week, we go in and we want to win. And we think 'how can we be better? How can we get to the point where we are as successful as we should be'? So we're really confident.

"We've got a great group, great coaching staff and it's a great club. We've got all of the foundations to do what we want."