RYAN O'Keefe has just turned 33, an age when many footballers are either well into retirement or coming to terms with the impending prospect of hanging up the boots.

But O'Keefe has a message for anyone predicting the end of his glittering career: he’s not going anywhere.

Following the retirements last year of Dean Brogan, Simon Black, Jude Bolton and Stephen Milne, O'Keefe is now the seventh oldest player in the AFL.

Only Dustin Fletcher, Brent Harvey, Ben Hudson, Lenny Hayes, Adam Goodes and Heath Scotland are older than the decorated Sydney Swan.

O'Keefe also has a lot of miles in his legs, having averaged just under 24 games per season over the past 10 years, and is about to commence his 15th campaign with the Swans.

But you just try telling him he should starting thinking about calling it quits.

"You've got 'Boomer' Harvey and Fletcher and these guys, they seem healthy and their form hasn't dropped," O'Keefe said.

"You hit 30-plus and all of a sudden it's 'when are you going to retire?'

"That drives me even more. You get a question about how many years you've got left – I've got as many years as I want.

"I'll keep going until I've had enough. A number is not going to determine when I finish. It's whether my body can hold up and whether I want it or not.

"Not my age or a number next to my name."

O'Keefe has made 282 appearances for the Swans, which ranks him fourth all-time at the club behind Goodes, Bolton and Michael O'Loughlin.

If he can continue his current rate, he will join that trio in the 300 club this season, and he has every intention of playing on in 2015.

"Yeah I do," he said. "At this point in time, definitely. I love playing and why wouldn't I?

"I really treasure it and appreciate the opportunity I've got and just try to make the most of it.

"The hunger is still there."

A dedicated trainer and a man that doggedly watches everything he eats, O'Keefe also rides a bike to training every day and has hosted international cycling tours during the off-season.

Coach John Longmire says there is no secret behind a career that has yielded two premierships, a Norm Smith Medal, a club best and fairest and an All Australian guernsey.

"During his whole career he's been an absolute fanatic at getting his body right, to the point of almost being over the top with it," Longmire said.

"That's what has allowed him to play as much football as he has, at the level he has, for such a long time.

"He knows how to get himself right, he knows how to prepare himself right, and has a mindset that you're never comfortable.

"He just wants to get better all the time."

While he has every intention of playing for some time yet, O'Keefe does acknowledge that form can drop off dramatically and believes a healthy body is the best way to combat it.

Only three years ago former teammate Tadhg Kennelly was talking up his chances of extending his career, before a lack of form and fitness quickly forced him into retirement, just two months after turning 30.

With injuries depleting their midfield last season, O'Keefe and a handful of fellow Swans were called upon to log increased minutes as they battled through to a preliminary final defeat to Fremantle.

Accustomed to spending well over 80 per cent of games on the field, O'Keefe believes resting players, as the Hawks and Dockers both did late last season, could be the prototype for the future.

"That's smart and maybe that's the way of the future, with the rotations and sub rule and the load on players," he said.

"If you can afford to rest players, you're going to have to. It's a long year and it's one of the most physically demanding games out there."

One of the Swans' most versatile players, over the journey O'Keefe has filled a variety of midfield roles, played as a forward and spent time as a tagger.

But if the grind of Australian football is taking a toll, he isn't showing it.

"I'm feeling great," he said. "I'm getting paid to play a game I love, get fit and be healthy.

"I get up in the morning and bounce out of bed."