Liam Shiels was happily retired a month ago but the triple Hawthorn premiership player believes he can extend his AFL career for at least another two years.
The 31-year-old was officially confirmed as a North Melbourne player on Monday, reconnecting with former Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson at Arden St.
A self-confessed footy fanatic, Shiels will combine his love for recruiting and list management with a leadership role guiding the young Kangaroos list.
It was that pitch from Clarkson and North's head of football talent Brady Rawlings that convinced Shiels to turn his back on retirement and add to his 255 AFL games.
"I still felt like I had footy left in my body and my body's feeling really good, but at the time I felt like hanging up the boots and retiring," Shiels said on Wednesday.
"It's probably only happened over the last month that this opportunity came up to represent the Kangaroos.
"I want to get into recruiting and list management and there was an opportunity to do that here at North Melbourne, and as the talks progressed, there was an opportunity to play a bit of footy and help educate these young players coming through.
"We'll get to the end of pre-season and the end of next season and sit down with Brady and Clarko again and assess where my footy is at, but I'd like to think that I've got at least a couple of years in my body."
Clarkson has brought a heavy Hawthorn flavour across to Arden St, with former Hawks utility Daniel Howe also joining the Kangaroos via last week's rookie draft.
Shiels - who had spells in the VFL with Box Hill this year - said he had not taken his axing by Hawks coach Sam Mitchell personally.
"Hawthorn played a big part in my life and I'm forever grateful for everything they did for me," he said.
"To retire a one-club player was something that crossed my mind.
"I still felt like I had some good games of footy left in my body but they were going in a different direction. I completely understand that."
