Out-of-contract forward Jason Porplyzia says he hopes to finish his career as a one-club player.

Porplyzia, 28, qualifies as an unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season. The classy goalkicker, who has kicked 180 goals in 124 games with Adelaide, said contract talks were underway.

“I think things are happening behind the scenes. I’d love to remain at the Club and I have no intention of going anywhere else,” Porplyzia told FIVEaa.

“So as long as things get sorted out, I’ll be here. My management is taking care of that.

“I’m just worried about playing football.”

Check out the complete list of 2013 Free Agents

Promoted to Adelaide’s leadership group this year, Porplyzia enjoyed a strong pre-season.

The former rookie got off to a good start in Round One, kicking 1.2 from 16 possessions and getting involved in four other Crows scores. But he was taken to hospital by ambulance immediately after the game and diagnosed with a bleeding stomach ulcer. He recovered in time to play in Adelaide’s second game of the season against Brisbane a fortnight later, but started as the substitute.

Porplyzia donned the green sub’s vest another four times in the first half of the season as he battled to regain consistency. He has rewarded the Crows selectors for their faith in the past month.

Since the bye, Porplyzia’s had more scoring shots (13) that any other Crow, for an unusually inaccurate return of 7.6. In the past three rounds, he’s also ranked first at Adelaide in goal and score assists, second in contested marks and fifth in contested possession.

Porplyzia said returning to a permanent role in the forward line had proved beneficial.

“I’m nearly there,” Porplyzia said of his form.

“It’s been good in a way (going back to the forward line), just to have a position settled and know what I’m going to be doing during the game, which probably helps preparation during the week.

“Earlier in the season, the idea was for me to get a bit of touch through the midfield and get my hands on the footy a bit more. I was the sub five times and I struggled for a bit of consistency and game time in general. When I was the sub, the coaches wanted me to come on and have an impact and I suppose the biggest impact I could’ve made was through the midfield with a bit of burst and speed later in the game.

“Since I’ve gone back to starting on the ground, the idea has been for me to get a bit more time up forward and have an impact there. It’s not my call. I was keen to push into the midfield a bit more, but the coaches have decided I play my best footy up forward.

“I really enjoy playing up forward when the ball comes in well and you get a bit or service. You’re a little bit reliant on the ball coming in as a forward, whereas, in the midfield you can make the play a bit yourself. I’d like a bit of balance (of time in the midfield and forward).

“Last week’s game was a good example. In the first quarter, we pin-pointed our passes and used the ball well. I was able to get on the end of a couple of kicks, which was nice. But we struggled for consistency in being able to hit that inside 50m target and that remains a work in progress.”

Starting as the substitute several times earlier in the season might also give Porplyzia a physical advantage in the latter rounds. Despite having played all but one game, the Crows 2009 leading goalkicker said he was running out games strongly.

“I feel really good,” he said.

“I’m covering the ground well and all my GPS and sprint numbers are up on last year.”

Porplyzia said the Crows would use a nine-day break between games this week to top up their fitness levels, as the speed of the game continues to soar.

“You need to keep working at your fitness throughout the year and take whatever chances you can to get better. You can’t just play and recover every week,” he said.

“The game is so fast and there is less time to recover between efforts with the changes to the rules this year. Over the pre-season, the focus of our running work was around hard, explosive efforts with short recoveries. All our numbers were up and our results were better than the year before.

“That doesn’t take into account how much other teams improved over the pre-season, so it’s important we keep looking for ways to get better in that area.”