A BOY from the bush - Myrtleford in north-east Victoria, to be exact - Guy Rigoni loved tractors and trucks when he was a kid.

So it's no surprise that he now spends his working days surrounded by giant machines at Williams Adams, one of Australia's largest Caterpillar dealers, in Melbourne's western suburbs.

"I do a lot of account managing, building relationships with clients, and recommending the machines for their jobs," said Rigoni, who is profiled in the latest episode of the AFL.com.au series, Life After Footy.

"I deal with 90 major accounts. They are mainly clients that work in heavy construction projects like road building and water infrastructure."

Now 37 and retired from football, Rigoni is proud of all he achieved during his playing days.

After progressing through the ranks at Myrtleford, he came close to playing at the elite level when he was recruited by Hawthorn in the early 1990s, but because the Hawks boasted a strong midfield brigade at the time, he was released after playing 42 games in the reserves.

Rigoni headed back to Myrtleford and caught the eye of Melbourne's recruiting scouts while playing in the Ovens and Murray League.

At the age of 23 he finally made his AFL debut when the Demons took on Fremantle in round one of the 1998 season, Neale Daniher's first game as coach.

He prospered under Daniher, playing almost every game in the '98, '99 and 2000 seasons and winning selection in the Melbourne side that lost the 2000 Grand Final to Essendon.

"It was a fantastic feeling to get out there … but unfortunately we came up against a fantastic side in Essendon," Rigoni recalled.

"The Grand Final was one of my best and worst experiences. Just to make it was fantastic, but to lose it meant it was a day of highs and lows."

In all, Rigoni played 107 games for Melbourne over eight seasons before a back injury ended his elite career.

"Once I played that first game, I set my goal to play 50 games, then 100 games," he said.

"To make that, and get your name on the locker, like you do at Melbourne, was one of my aims.

"And that's what I stuck with my No. 43, because there was no one on that locker. I wanted to get my name up there and I did."

Rigoni was able to manage his back injury so he could keep playing in the VFL, and he was part of Sandringham's three straight premierships between 2004 and 2006.

Before hanging up his boots for good, he had one list stint playing with Myrtleford, which gave him the chance to end his footy career where it had begun.