KEVIN Sheedy concedes he may not be involved with an AFL club next year as he weighs up the next step in his legendary career.
Sheedy contested his final home match as coach of Greater Western Sydney on Sunday and has one final fixture remaining, against Gold Coast next week.
He has already been offered a role with the Giants for next season which would involve helping the academy and sitting on the club's board, while an unlikely return to Essendon has also been mooted.
But the 65-year-old admitted on Sunday that his latest venture might be his last with an AFL side.
"There's a chance, yeah," he said.
"I've locked up my life and thrown the key away of my family for a long time.
"There might be other work around for me to do.
"I like work, I train pretty hard still, I want to keep fit and healthy and won't be retiring.
"But if I don't have another AFL club, I don't. If I do, I do.
"You might need the time off to get some things done in your life you haven't had a lot of time to do."
While wins have been hard to come by, picking up just three in his two seasons at the helm, Sheedy has had a seismic influence on the club and football in the region.
Working tirelessly since he came on board when the new entity was still known as Team GWS and had red, white and blue colours in 2009, he has left an unmistakable mark on the club.
The GWS best and fairest is named in his honour and Sheedy is proud of what he and the club have achieved.
"We started a club. That's important and doesn't often happen in a person's lifetime, particularly in NSW," he said.
"It's the first club that was started in NSW. It's not ex-Victorian. It's a very important point that.
"It's one of the best things I've done in my life, there's no doubt about that.
"We'd obviously love to have more wins on the board, but what we've been able to achieve … to have our best crowd today, we're not a good footy team yet, we've got so much to learn.
"In the next three-to-five years you won't get in the stadium. It'll be sold out.
"If we recruit well, draft well in the next draft and trade very well, I wouldn't be surprised if perhaps our attendance next year could be 12-15,000 and membership might be 15-20,000.
"If we could achieve that heading into our third year, that would be an enormous achievement for the Giants."
Richmond counterpart Damien Hardwick, who spent the majority of his playing career under Sheedy at Windy Hill, paid tribute to his former mentor.
"He means so much to me and my family and I don't think I've seen a person with as much influence, not only within AFL circles, but people in general," he said.
"He's outstanding at what he does, he's been fantastic for the club up here and the AFL environment in general.
"He'll land a bloody job somewhere, you know what he's like. He'll be doing something.
"I'm tipping he's not going back to plumbing."
Veteran ruckman Dean Brogan also played his 193rd and final game in the AFL, retiring for the third and final time after initially calling an end to his playing days, first with Port Adelaide and then again last year.
"I've had three send-offs. (I'm like) Johnny Farnham," Brogan joked.
"(But) I feel like I'm one of the luckiest blokes going around in the AFL.
"Two years ago winding it up and not knowing what I'm doing and getting a call to come up here, you're obviously a bit hesitant to move to Sydney.
"But the way the club has welcomed me and my family and to work alongside the great man here (in Sheedy), it's just been incredible."
