TWELVE months ago, Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards thought his AFL career was just about over and he was set to head to Sweden to continue playing Australian football.

Richards was languishing in the Swans reserves and didn't know if his AFL career would continue beyond 2010, leading him to contemplate joining his brother Jake in Stockholm.

Jake Richards is completing an MBA in Economics in Sweden and also plays for the Solna Axemen in a competition known as the SAFL (Swedish AFL).

With his career in the balance Richards considered a move to Sweden to re-connect with his brother, but fought his way back into the senior Swans team and will play his 150th AFL match against his old club Essendon on Saturday.

"Last year I was thinking 'If I'm not going to be playing football, what would I be doing?'," Richards said in Sydney on Tuesday.

"For a while there I was considering moving to Sweden.

"My older brother lives in Sweden and things like that come into your mind; I'd go over and study and do something different.

"He went over and studied and is working trying to get Europe out of its economic crisis.

"I go over there from time to time and I would've gone over there for a year or two and just do something different, but I'm very happy here.

"I was fortunate enough to finish last season off quite well and I was able to keep going with footy here."

The Axemen will have to wait, with Richards recently signing a new two-year deal with the Swans taking him through to the end of the 2013 season.

Stuck behind the likes of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and James Hird with the Bombers, Richards had a frustrating start to his senior career at Windy Hill.

Drafted in 2000, Richards played just 33 matches with Essendon before heading north to Sydney at the end of 2005.

"It took me five years at Essendon to get to 33 games, so I didn't think I'd get to 34 there for a while," he said.

"To get to 150 is something I didn't think would happen for a long time.

"In some ways maybe I am (a survivor), because there's been quite a few obstacles along the way and a lot of times I thought it may be my last year of footy."

Richards was having a hard time in 2010, spending 10 games in the reserves before injuries to Craig Bolton and Lewis Roberts-Thomson gave him another chance.

He has since played 26 of a possible 27 games, missing just one match in 2011 through injury.

"Last year I was happy with parts, but I spent about a two-month period in the reserves," he said.

"You can get pretty down on yourself in the reserves and it being such a long stint halfway through the year, sometimes you think 'How am I going to get out of this and force my way back into the team?'

"From memory the team was playing some good football too, so I was thinking if I don't get back in, what's going to happen at the end of the season.

"(But) I'm really enjoying my football and it's been a big year for me.

"I've been playing full-back or centre half-back all year and trying to do my bit; it's been a big year."

Richards says Sydney is now his home and will be once his AFL career comes to a close.

"Sydney's home, as much as mum probably doesn't want to hear that," he said.

"I'd want to stay here when football finishes.

"Sweden's been put on the backburner for a while."