As many do, when he hung up the boots, Craig Gleeson tried his best to stay away.
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The Narrabri stalwart knew it was his best chance of avoiding the temptation to play.
"It was sort of the only way I could break the habit," he said.
And for a good few years he did.
Then, a couple of seasons ago one of the "young fellas" that he knew from reserve grade rang him and asked whether he would be willing to help them out.
"I thought for a young fella to do that, I didn't want to say no to helping him out," he said.
He only played a handful of games, but being back around that environment, naturally it rekindled his love for the game again.
Now the 184-game veteran is stepping into the coaching fire as the first grade head coach for the Blue Boars' 2024 campaign.
Not something that had really been on his radar, Gleeson said it seemed a good way of doing a bit of training and keeping fit "without actually having to put yourself through the rigours of a game".
Initially approached a few years ago - not necessarily to coach first grade but help out in an assistant capacity - with three young kids that all had their own sporting endeavours he didn't feel like he could properly commit.
"It's pretty hard when you've got a young family, and trying to balance their sport and everything else that's on a Saturday," he said.
Then after last season a few people in the club and players reached out again to gauge his interest.
"So I sat down and talked about it with the family and made sure that everyone was going to be sweet with the commitment of it and everything else that goes with it," he said.
They were happy for him to do it, so he decided to throw his "hat in the ring".
"I just thought it was a good opportunity to probably put a bit back into the club and have a little bit of an outlet for myself," he said.
"I probably see it as not a bad time to do it as well because I've probably got enough gap between myself and the playing group but still know them well enough as well."
That they were one of the big proponents for him taking it on helps.
He will be assisted by another Blue Boars stalwart in Michael Cain.
Gleeson has known the 225-game veteran for a long time and was keen to get him on board.
"Cainy's one of the smartest footy players you'll probably ever come across," he said.
"And he sort of plays a style of footy that is exactly what I'm sort of looking for: read the situation well, assess the situation really quickly and then make your decision."
Describing his coaching philosophy as being "positive", he also spoke about wanting to really develop that culture where you enjoy playing "for being around your mates" and "for the love of the club".
"It's as much about camaraderie and enjoying each other's company as it is about winning footy games and winning titles because they sort of go hand-in-hand in my book," he said.
Nathan Nott will meanwhile serve as reserve grade captain-coach while president Mick Coffey will again take charge of the premiership-winning women's side assisted by Mitch Creighton.
