Richmond defender Alex Rance says he considered walking away from AFL football before deciding that continuing to play the sport wouldn't adversely affect his wife, his family or his religious beliefs.
Rance ended months of speculation on Saturday when he agreed to a new four-year deal that will keep him at Punt Road until the end of the 2019 season.
The 25-year-old is a devout Jehovah's Witness and said that he seriously contemplated stepping away from the game for good, before deciding to pledge his future to Richmond.
"Obviously I've got some pretty important things in my life - my wife, my beliefs and my family - so I had to consider all of those," Rance said on Monday.
"It's obviously a pretty big time in my life - I've got to consider the future that I had ahead of me at this club and the future I wanted to lead after that as well.
"If I thought that football was going to impact on any of those three things ... then I would very seriously think about leaving the game but I'm very happy with the decision I've made."
The 2014 All-Australian, who grew up in Western Australia, also gave some thought to big-money offers from rival clubs, given his wife's family is from Perth.
"I thought about that for a little while," he said.
"But when it came down to the crunch I knew that it was Richmond or nothing at all."
Given how close he came to actually giving the game away, Rance was asked about the sizeable commitment he ended up making with a four-year deal.
"It's sort of the done thing now to do big deals isn't it?" he said. "I've got currency now ... why not?"
Rance said that the support of his teammates, coach Damien Hardwick and football manager Dan Richardson had been important as speculation over his future mounted.
He admitted the glare of life under the AFL spotlight was an issue he considered, but his ability to compartmentalise his role as a footballer was key to his decision.
"It does become all-encompassing at times, so it's really about being able to switch off and make it a nine-to-five (job) if you can," he said.
"I think if in my mind I can keep it as a job and not so much as `I've got to do anything to win' or do things which are outside the game or be overly aggressive ... really put it in its place (then) as soon as I leave the club I can put it aside and enjoy my time with my wife and not stress about the anxieties of whether I played well or didn't."
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