Melbourne forward Tim Smith has announced his retirement from the AFL, after 13 games for the Demons.
Across his three years at Melbourne, Smith played 13 games while battling with injury during his Demons career.
Smith spoke to Melbourne's website about his next move, which will see him spend more time with his family.
โI think this is the best opportunity for me and my family,โ Smith toldย Melbourne Media.
โIโll get to spend a lot more time with my daughter and my soon-to-be wife and really enjoy that aspect of my life.
โIโm not getting any younger and I donโt feel like my body can get what I want to get out of it.
โI donโt think my body can handle that demand anymore and I just felt like it was the right decision for myself, and it allows someone else to come in and have the opportunity like Iโve had.โ
The last straw for Smith was his recent foot injury, which prompted him to think about life after football.
โIt was probably when I hurt my foot towards the end of the season,โ he said.
โI had a lot of things to weigh up โ I have a young family now and Iโm heavily interested in plumbing outside of footy.
โI had to decide whether I wanted to go through another year of potentially getting injured and being on the sidelines, or who knows, you might have a good year.
โIt was the hardest decision Iโve had to make in a long time โ to be able to say to Goody (Simon Goodwin) and Tim Lamb, that I want to give this away โ because itโs something that you strive and work so hard to get to.
โBut the decision was for me and my family.โ
