Retired Crows defender, Brent Reilly, is now focusing on life after playing AFL and is considering taking a part-time coaching role with the Club.
After suffering a fractured skull in a training incident in February, Reilly returned to the Club mid-season in a temporary coaching position mentoring the defenders.
The 31-year-old told The Crows Show that he had been challenged by the demands of being a coach.
“As a player, I used to rock up and you just look after yourself and sometimes you look after other players,” Reilly said.
“But being a coach, you have to look after your group and you have to worry about the opposition.
“It’s a lot more demanding than I actually thought.”
Following surgery earlier in the year, Reilly is now starting to resume a normal life and is eager to learn what comes next for him.
“I’m seven months into the injury or incident that I had, and I’ve had some recent scans and will see some more specialists again in a week,” he said.
“Hopefully I can find out when I can drive and start doing some other things. So I’m looking forward to seeing him and seeing where I’m at.”
Retiring from football in May, Reilly has taken it slow returning to everyday life and says he still has to be conscious of how much he does in a day despite feeling healthy.
“I’m starting to get more out of the day and I’m not as tired any more,” he said.
“The only thing that’s holding me back is that I can’t drive. So I’ve lost my independence for a little while there but hopefully I can get that back soon.”
Reilly, who played 203 AFL games for the Crows, is open to following a coaching pathway but is still weighing up his options.
“I’ve got a couple of opportunities that I can just go straight into after footy when it’s all finished,” he said.
“I’ve been offered a part time role at the Club and if I decide to take that, I’ll take it.
“But at the same time I’ve got to look after my health and I’m on the right path and I don’t want to upset that and fall down the trap again of getting myself ill or not well.
“(I’m) looking forward to the next part and what decision I make.”
