After 16 seasons, 303 games and three premierships with Richmond, Shane Edwards opted to switch allegiances following his retirement.
Edwards joined the Adelaide Crows last month in a dual role as the club’s indigenous Player Development Manager as well as in the recruiting department.
The 34-year-old outlined what the role looks like and what his options were once he decided to hang up the boots with the Tigers.
“Throughout the week I’ll just be supporting the Indigenous players there, men and women,” Edwards said on SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“It’s more of a mentoring role. In the recruiting department I’ll be communicating with the team back in Victoria, scouting on the weekend and finding talent.”
Edwards revealed a major part of his decision was to head back home to South Australia with his young family when considering the options available to him.
“It definitely wasn’t to keep playing, that’s for sure,” he added.
“In the PDM (player development management) space and in the recruiting department because I’d done four or five years (of recruiting) at Richmond. It would have been something in that.
“Obviously the draw to come home with family really lured me back here. I’m really grateful to be at the Crows.”
Edwards has stepped away from the playing field after a successful stint with the Tigers and admits he would rather focus on recruiting as opposed to continuing his career at a lower level.
He didn’t even receive an offer form his father Greg, who is the CEO of SANFL club Central District.
“No, he hasn’t yet, and I’m actually pretty offended by it because he hasn’t asked me,” he laughed.
“I’ve been waiting for dad to say, ‘C’mon, come and play with us’, but he hasn’t mentioned it. Obviously he saw the writing on the wall quickly.
“I’m hanging them up for now. Recruiting takes up weekends so I don’t think the two can coexist at the moment.”
Even though he ended his playing days as a three-time premiership player in the yellow and black, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Edwards at Tigerland.
There were plenty of tough times at Richmond, similar to what Adelaide is experiencing now.
So, what would his advice for the rebuilding Crows be?
“There’s obviously a lot of things that go into it and a lot of people putting time into it,” he said further.
“I suppose one thing is you can never lose hope and you never really know what’s just around the corner when it all just clicks together.
“We’ve seen it happen almost every season where a team just really jumps up. There’s no reason why it couldn’t be any specific team if it all clicks together at the one time and you don’t lose hope.
“It’s a really exciting list. It’s got a lot of young talent and some older players that are playing some really good footy.
“You never know, you can’t put a ceiling on things but at the same time it’s just sticking to the process and taking it one week at a time to see how you can go.”
The Crows finished 14th last season with a win-loss record of 8-14 which was their fifth straight year without finals since the 2017 Grand Final loss to Edwards and the Tigers.
They will be hoping the experience of Edwards will help them continue their push towards a return to finals footy.