RICHMOND might have moved on from life with Alex Rance, but the five-time All Australian admits he hasn't totally shut the door on his AFL career.

Rance, 30, hung up the boots before Christmas, citing a desire to pursue other areas of life including his "spiritual growth" as a Jehovah's Witness. 

Despite saying he was "really content" with his life post-retirement, he didn't definitively state he had played his last AFL game.  

"I love the game and I love what I have contributed and I am not going to completely rule out the fact that I could come back," Rance said on RRR radio on Monday. 

"But at this stage I'm really happy with the life balance that I have and I don't regret any of my time spent at Richmond because it made me who I am. 

"I'm proud of the effort I put in there to achieve what we did. It's a constant thing. 

"I know that if I go back to playing for Richmond I am going to love it so much that it's going to consume my life and my balance is going to go out again so I'm happy where I'm at." 

Rance remains on the Tigers' list this year with the remainder of his contract included in the club's total player payments for 2020. 

The Tigers haven't moved to put him on their inactive list, meaning he could essentially play at any stage. 

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Recently, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he didn't expect Rance to renege on his decision, nor was it fair for the club to wait for him to change his mind. 

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"He's been a terrific servant for us, he'll always be a Richmond man and he is always welcome at our footy club," Hardwick said. 

"But we've got 41 or 42 players that can help us right here, right now, so there's no point looking in the rear vision mirror. 

"We've got to continue to look forward and continue to develop our next premiership side which is hopefully not too far away."

Rance said he was surprised at how much time he had without football, after he spent 2019 in "self-reflection" mode as his torn anterior cruciate ligament healed. 

He also said he didn't realise how much work had to go into relationships when you had to make time for them. 

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"You realise how convenient sometimes friendships are," he said. 

"We'd see each other all the time and bump into each other in the hallways but how often do you think of each other outside of that and put time into that relationship other than it being a convenient friendship? 

"That's one of the things that has taken me a little bit surprise, how much work goes into friendships. 

"I had 40 or 50 mates I was able to see every day and connect with and share things with and now it's like, 'Oh, where is everybody?'"