That’s what the Armidale Lions basketball side have in 34-year-old veteran forward Matt Myhill.

Myhill will not only provide 20 years of experience this season, but will also be bring calm and controlled on-court confidence the young Lions team needs after a winless debut season in the State League last year.

With very little experience playing together, Lions coach Harry Martin will look to Myhill and fellow veteran Steve Snape to provide stability and reliability both offensively and defensively.

The evergreen forward started playing basketball at age 14 and began his representative career with Armidale a year later as a 15-year-old in the Under 16s.

Twenty years later, he has only enjoyed one year off the courts.

“I’ve been playing in Armidale for 20 years except for the year I had off in 2000 when my little fella was born,” he said.

When asked about his expectations for the State League season which tips-off on March 27 against Ballina, Myhill was optimistic.

“It’s a totally different team and there’s only six in the comp so we only have to beat two teams to make semis so that’s the goal I guess,” he said.

“But in the short term we just want to win one of the first three games.”

The Lions have some serious range this year, with all 13 squad members able to shoot three-pointers at a good percentage, something Myhill believes will serve the team well.

“The best thing about this team is we can go inside and outside depending on what the other teams do we can try and counter, because we have a fair bit of both sides of the game,” he said.

Myhill told The Express he chose to return to the representative fold this season after learning of the appointment of respected coach Harry Martin.

“I think it’s great – from what I understand the team had no real direction last year so it’s good to have someone with so much experience to guide the team in the right direction. We are lucky to have him really,” he said.

The Lions battle Ballina at The Den on Sunday March 27.