What are you planning to do?
Jordan Russell is not exactly ready to answer that question just yet.
But his hopes are clear: play VFL with an AFL-aligned side and help out with coaching the young players.
After it all, he wants to play and he has a passion for helping those entering the system.
"I'm looking forward to starting from the ground up again. In a way it might be a better thing for me than getting a [coaching] gig straight out. You learn to appreciate it all," Russell told AFL.com.au.
He's keen to do other work too, helping pay the bills and learn more about life outside an AFL club.
Recently he's been doing some labouring and odd jobs as he organises himself pre-Christmas, experience sure to grow in value as time passes.
Although the end happens too quickly for many, Russell feels fortunate that he had the chance to get his head around this post-football period, his career phasing out like analogue TV.
After the Blues delisted him at the end of 2012, Russell played nine games with Collingwood in 2013 on a one-year contract before the final curtain dropped, 125 games and a runner-up in a best and fairest sitting next to his name.
When AFL.com.au spoke to him in early October he was keen to keep playing at the highest level but he knew his chances of finding another spot on a list were remote.
So he's happy to reflect now on his career at the highest level, a player who looked to be fulfilling the expectations of others during 2009 and 2010 as a key defender, before playing just 32 games in his final three seasons.
Recruited from West Adelaide with selection No.9 in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft, he was spruiked as being quick, agile and possessing strong endurance after testing well in the draft camp that year.
He played just one game in 2005 as he settled into his new town, renting a house from coach Denis Pagan in his first season.
He laughs at that memory of having a coach as his landlord but the revelry subsides a little when he admits he was never quicker than when he arrived at the club.
"I think when you're running around at 75kg you're probably a bit quicker," Russell said. "Then I put 10 or 12 kilos on in two or three years, which obviously slows you down a bit."
As the club battled during his early years he admits he was selected for games when his form probably didn't warrant selection.
He flirted with the idea of joining Port Adelaide at the end of 2006 – agreeing to the move then spending the rest of the trade period hoping it would not happen.
However it made Russell an easy target for some. He was maligned, more often than not unfairly, and sometimes he wondered how to cope with what was being directed at him.
But the experience held him in good stead when he started 2009 with 50 games behind him. It is also likely to make him a great mentor for footballers in the future.
Brett Ratten, in his second full season as senior coach, came to him with the idea of becoming a running half-back flanker and his career took off.
"I was a confidence player and if I felt like I had the backing of someone it gave me all the positivity in the world," Russell said. "I loved it and the next two years it was happy days."
He finished second in the 2010 best and fairest behind Chris Judd, played a great final against the Sydney Swans, earned his solitary Brownlow vote (against St Kilda in round seven) and was voted into the leadership group for 2011.
However he'd finished 2010 with groin pain and had double hip surgery at the end of the season. When he began running pre-Christmas he hurt his ankle so had just two weeks of solid training before the NAB Cup.
It's a miracle he played 16 games that season and he concedes he was 'cooked' midway through the year.
However he blames no one except himself for the predicament he was in.
Jordan Russell in his last season as a Blue. Picture: AFL Media
"I think I underestimated the rehab and the importance of it to get back. I did what I thought was required but I never really regained that power," Russell said.
Voted back into the leadership group for 2012 under the Leading Teams system that gives players the vote, his confidence received a boost.
Then he started playing VFL more often than AFL with Chris Yarran excelling as a running defender.
Russell wrestled constantly with the idea of stepping down from the leadership group to give him one less thing to worry about.
"It just felt uncomfortable," said Russell.
But he didn't and uncomfortable became the way he began to play. By the end of 2012 his time at Carlton was over.
Joining Collingwood was exciting but he knew it was a make or break year.
Unfortunately it was a break, with a fracture in the foot not helping his cause.
Nathan Buckley was honest and upfront with Russell from start to finish. He respects the coach and the club and remains grateful for his opportunity.
He is a realist however and knows there was some derision towards him from a group of fans after a 10-minute patch didn't go his way on Anzac Day.
His defensive coach told him he could not have done a lot more to stop Essendon's Jason Winderlich's two goals in a couple of minutes in the third quarter.
An errant kick-in minutes earlier had left him in the firing line of television cameras but when you watch Winderlich mark now it's hard to say exactly what else Russell could have done.
Except not be Russell.
He says he stopped using Twitter from that moment on - sadly, the frenzy of abuse meant it wasn't worth it.
What must have been a shocking time for Russell boils down to one thing for him: the unforgiving nature of playing in defence.
"You can't switch off for half a second," Russell said.
He's finding that doesn't only apply to the backline. It's modern life for most.
He calls the off-season his redundancy period and admits there is some stress attached to it.
But he has learned to deal with stress already in a career and will have some good lessons to pass on at whatever environment he lands in.
"You have got to build up that thick skin and know that what you are doing is right and that what you think is good enough," Russell said.
