Hall, 32, has been charged 15 times by the tribunal during his career, and suspended for a total of 24 games. The latest incident, during his 250th career game in round 13, cost him a two-match ban for punching Adelaide's Ben Rutten.
“I’ve done a lot of good stuff with this football club and I’m really proud of that but I think if I play on, I can’t promise whether there’s going to be another indiscretion again. I can’t explain the last indiscretion,” Hall said.
“I think it’s a real risk for me and for the football club that if I do go on, that things will turn ugly and I won’t be able to walk away with my head held high.”
Hall said he would continue to work towards managing his violent outbursts, for fear that they would continue to occur outside the football field.
“I’ll tell you right now that I’m worried about my actions some times. They’re natural, they’re instinctive and as soon as I do it, [I think] ‘Why did I do that?’” he said.
“It was a real risk to keep playing and it’s something that I’m going to have to sort out, even after this. It’s not as if I’m going to let the issue go away because I’m not playing football.
“It could happen in a nightclub, it could happen in road rage, it could happen. I’m going to sort it out and I’m going to try to fix the problem if I can. It’s not as if football is the be-all and end-all.”
Hall said it would have been “pretty easy” to continue to play the remainder of the season but some soul-searching in the past 10 days had convinced him otherwise.
“You’ve got to sit back sometimes and realise what impact you have [on others] and the control I had over that was to make the decision today, rather than go on and be selfish about things,” he said.
“It’s not about that – it’s about making a decision that’s right for everyone and I think I’ve done that.
“I see myself as a bit of a realist and sometimes I make rash decisions and I hope I make better decisions off the field than on.”
