A-League: Topor-Stanley's 30-metre screamer awarded goal of the year - watch it here

Topor-Stanley earned the gong for his 30-metre tracer bullet which nearly pierced the net in a 2-1 victory over Perth Glory on February 29.

The screamer was the pick of some outstanding strikes from the league's premier showman headed by Milos Ninkovic and Jamie Maclaren.

"I'll take it and include it on the CV down the track under major achievements," he said. "It's nice, but silverware is what I am really after. "

While Topor-Stanley admits he is unlikely to net another goal of that calibre, the evergreen central defender plans to feature more regularly on the scoresheet.

The goal against Perth took his tally to three for the campaign - his biggest haul in 13 seasons in the A-League.

Topor-Stanley, standing 191cm, is one of the best defenders in the air in the league and wants to transfer that prowess to the other end of the field.

"That is our job," he said. "We are there to score goals and I certainly aim to be effective off set pieces and jag a few. If you are given a responsibility to be in the area from set pieces, especially with our height and our delivery, we should be putting teams under pressure."

Set pieces are an area that Jets coach Carl Robinson and assistant Kenny Miller have focused heavily on since taking the reins mid-season.

"Carl is very thorough and so are his staff," Topor-Stanley said. "They know finer details make a difference in games. As we have seen, you can miss out on the finals by a handful of points. Set pieces, if you do them well, can gain you those points. If you don't do them well, it can cost you at the other end."

Topor-Stanley watched the grand final on Sunday and believed Sydney's 1-0 victory over Melbourne City in extra-time was a "pretty fair" result.

The Jets beat both clubs in the lead-up to the finals but for Topor-Stanley it wasn't a case of pondering what if.

"We obviously had a good run, but it was too little, too late," he said. "You can say that all you like but we had opportunities to get points on the board and we didn't do that. We didn't deserve to be in the finals. You end up on the ladder where you deserve to be most of the time."

The 35-year-old took a short break after the Jets' last game and has since been "ticking over".

"I had a week off and then thought it would be prudent to slowly get going," he said. "Nothing crazy, just so I don't turn into a bag of mush."

The next A-League season has been slated to start in January.

Club owners have proposed wage cuts and a smaller salary cap for next season to counter the reduction in the broadcast deal from $56 million to $32m and are engaged in high level talks with the players union and FFA.

"There is no doubt we are in a precarious position," said Topor-Stanley, who is on the executive of the players union. "As players we have shown our commitment towards the game. We have come back to finish the season at hugely reduced terms. We feel that we have sacrificed a lot."

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