Richmond’s 2013 club champion Daniel Jackson wanted to shake his mates’ hands and explain his reasons for retirement face to face.

That’s why the 28-year-old veteran of 156 games made the shock decision to quit the game last Friday, two days before Richmond’s elimination final against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

Jackson had been named in a 25-man squad on Thursday night, but by Friday he was feeling like he’d struggle to get through a full game.

Having played every match for the Tigers in 2013 and winning the club’s best-and-fairest award, Jackson battled injuries this season, managing only 10 senior games.

“I really didn’t want to get to the start of next season and have the body give up or the mind not have the will to keep grinding on and leave the guys a man down for 2015,” Jackson told 3AW Radio on Wednesday.

“I was fairly confident that I wouldn’t last a full game and I’d battled through some VFL games the weeks before.

“Friday morning I woke up and thought `I’ll be okay, this is just nerves’.

“But I came into the football club and I thought `Nuh, I can’t go out there and get injured and leave us a man down in such a big game’.

“So I had to go tell Damien Hardwick `I don’t know if you’ve made a decision yet but it’s probably better that I don’t play because I don’t want to let anyone down’.”

Jackson said he also told Richmond’s coach: “For the same reason I’m not going to play next year because you guys have got big things to do and I don’t want to slow you down.”

Jackson planned to retire quietly in October via email, but he was advised to do it in person.

“A few wise heads who had been through it before said `you owe it to yourself and your teammates to do it in person and be able to shake hands and look them in the eye and give them the reasons’,” Jackson said.

“That’s kind of why it got brought forward.”