And when your alternative destination is a direct rival of that club, it makes it a whole lot tougher.

That was the scenario facing star forward and aspiring coach Jordan Longmore as he tried to weigh up whether to stay with the Bathurst Bushrangers for another tilt at a premiership or head to new kids on the block, the Bathurst Giants.

The offer of a spot at the Giants was extended by good friend Mark Kennedy who was being touted as a potential coach at the new club.

Longmore has played under Kennedy in the past and had indicated that he would like to coach alongside him at some stage.

The power forward, who kicked five goals in last year’s grand final loss by the Bushrangers to Orange Tigers, eventually settled on making the jump to the Giants where he will play and act as a co-coach, or an assistant, to Kennedy.

“I’m not actually sure of the official title, where it is as a co-coach or an assistant or whatever. I think the name of it is ‘co-coach’ so I’m going to keep reminding ‘Kenno’ [Kennedy] about that,” he said.

“It was probably the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make in my footballing life, whether to stay or go. I didn’t make the decision lightly.

“‘Kenno’ and I had talked for a long time about maybe coaching together at some point but when I came back from living in Canberra the opportunity wasn’t really there.

“This came up, I had a long, hard think about it and realised I’m getting to the age where I’m nearly too old to play so I need to find a way to get into coaching so that’s what won me over.”

Longmore sees his role as being one of putting into place the structures and tactical planning that Kennedy comes up with, and getting the players in what is bound to be a young and inexperienced team to buy into it.

“If I’m playing then the first thing I have to do is show leadership on the field, and coaching-wise I need to do a lot of the work to try and make sure that the guys doing the things Mark wants them to do, getting them to know and perform the roles that he chooses for them,” he said.

As a player, one of the factors that allowed Longmore to be so effective at the Bushrangers was the quality of delivery into the forward line that he got from players like Matt Archer, Paul Long and Ben Horn.

He won’t have that luxury this year, but he is prepared to show his versatility when the occasion demands it.

“I will change my playing role as much as my body allows me to,” he said.

“I’ve played in the ruck and down back in the past when I was younger and I don’t really mind where I go on the field. As an onfield leader I can’t afford to just stay up forward if something is going wrong, I need to push myself to have an influence up the ground and try and lead by example.”

When all is said and done before the first bounce of round one this year, there is bound to be a natural level of rivalry and probably animosity between the established Bushrangers and the new boys in the competition.

Longmore’s departure from his former club will only enhance that, but he is hoping that he can still maintain a relationship with his old clubmates.

“I certainly hope it won’t mean burnt bridges or anything, I’ve tried to be very upfront about my decision and to be honest about it,” he said.

“The reality of the footballing landscape in Bathurst means that things might be difficult but I really don’t want this decision to mean I’m not welcome back there or something and from speaking to a few of the guys I don’t think it will be like that.”