Four years has passed since Kyle Cheney donned a Crows guernsey but the former defender is still never far from a footy field.

Cheney, whose AFL career finished at the end of 2018, is now back to where his career began, playing with the Warrack Eagles in the Wimmera Football League.

Cheney, who still lives in Adelaide, says his brother Jacob convinced him to play country footy alongside him back home in Warracknabeal.

“It’s the team I grew up playing for and I’ve still got an older brother that plays there,” Cheney said.

“This conversation has sort of happened every 12 months since I finished (AFL) footy.

“It just got to a point where he's three years older than me and he said I’m either going to retire now or we’re going to give it 12 months, so I decided to go and play this year.

“I love playing with my brother, getting home and getting back to the club that basically moulded me into the player I was for however long in the AFL.”

Before lining up with the Warrack Eagles and once his AFL career ended, Cheney spent a few seasons with Hahndorf in the Hills Football League and won three Premierships in three years.

But when it came to a career outside of footy, the now 32-year-old was unsure of what he wanted to do.

It was former Adelaide teammate, Matt Jaensch, who helped steer Cheney into real estate.

He spent the first few years carving out a career with Harcourts, before moving into his current role as a property executive with Kite Property.

“I really struggled to find a passion outside of football (and) I sort of dipped my toes in different areas and business courses but I never really found that passion,” Cheney said.

“I played footy at Hahndorf with Matt Jaensch and he teed me up with Trent Shorland, who had the Harcourt offices in the Hills.

“I guess having a role presented in front of me was good for me to just say ‘yep, I’ll have a crack at it’, and I’ve enjoyed it.

“With what I’m doing now, compared to a traditional real estate role, there are elements that are comparable, but it’s different at the same time.

“I really enjoy it and it keeps me busy enough.”

Cheney, now a father of two girls, Elsie, 1, and Myra, 3, played 85 AFL games across three clubs and 11 years.

He was selected by Melbourne at the 2007 AFL Draft before being traded to Hawthorn at the end of 2010 and spent four seasons with the Hawks.

Cheney then switched to Adelaide, with the Crows picking him up in the final minutes of the trade period in 2014.

The former backman said the friendships he made during his time at Adelaide and in the AFL system was what he cherished the most.

“There’s no secret that I was never the best player on the team but if there was ever an opportunity to hang out with my mates, I was the first there,” Cheney said.

“I would’ve loved to have been able to achieve the ultimate success at AFL, but a very, very close second is the friendships that I’ve made throughout that career.”