Richmond may not lose veteran Shane Edwards to retirement once his career is all said and done, with a position in the club's recruitment team at Punt Road potentially on offer to the three-time premiership Tiger.
Edwards has been a stalwart in Richmond's recent success, having honed his craft through some of the more difficult years across his first decade at the club before tasting the ultimate glory in 2017.
The Golden Grove product will leave a resounding impact on the current core of young Tigers, and may continue to do so for the years beyond his playing days.
Speaking ahead of his 300th game in the yellow and black, the 33-year-old opened up on his desire to join the club's list management and recruitment team, having worked with Tigers talent scouts and list gurus Blair Hartley and Matt Clarke in recent years.
"I'd love to get into recruiting one day," Edwards said.
"The recruiting staff at Richmond, Blair and Matty Clarke, they've opened their arms to me over the last four or five years and really helped me learn a few things on that side of the game.
"So fingers crossed. Hopefully one day when I finish footy I can do some recruiting and list managing."
Sunday's matchup with Brisbane will see Edwards join rare air at Richmond, with Kevin Bartlett, Jack Dyer, Francis Bourke and current teammate Jack Riewoldt the only players before him to reach the 300-game milestone.
Edwards will also become the first Indigenous Tiger to hit the benchmark, and the eighth in the league's history, joining the likes of Shaun Burgoyne, Lance Franklin, Gavin Wanganeen, Adam Goodes, Eddie Betts, Andrew McLeod and Michael O'Loughlin.
When considering the elite list of club greats and first nations icons that have graced the game, Edwards said he was stumped to see where his name would fit in.
"It doesn't really sound right or sit well with me at the moment," a humble Edwards said.
"They're legends of the game and people I've looked up to for so long. "It's probably one of those things where I'll look back and see my name on the list and smile.
"Honestly, I'm lost for words when I see the names around the 300 number.
"I'm kind of feeling the same emotions that I felt when I got to 50 games to be honest. Getting that call for your first game, getting your 50, getting your 100. It's all the same feeling.
"It's surreal and you join a special group of players that have made it. The goalposts move each time and you probably don't look back at it as fondly as you should until you finish."
"It's something that I look forward to one day, but yeah I couldn't believe it when I played 100 games, and I'm trying to breathe and relive the feeling right now. So it's funny how that happens."
Sunday's clash at the MCG frames as a vital contest for the Tigers, who have slipped from the top eight after their 52-all draw with Fremantle last Friday night.
With just four matches remaining, Edwards and his teammates are well aware of the magnitude the Round 20 clash holds in their season.
"It's our biggest game of the year," Edwards said. "Brisbane are a quality team and have been for a long time.
"We've had some really close games against them, they play really contested footy.ย We been in not bad form over the last month, we just haven't been there to finish but we're looking forward to the challenge and we can't wait to attack it."
Sunday's match will see the Tigers and Lions go head-to-head at the MCG, with the match to commence at 3:20pm (AEST).
