FORMER defender Jared Rivers says he is “honoured” to receive a Melbourne life membership.

Rivers played 150 games for Melbourne from 2003-12. He joined Geelong at the end of the 2012 season as a free agent and played a further 44 games for the Cats before retiring in 2015. He recently joined Collingwood as a development coach.

Rivers said that the life membership brought back fond memories of his time at Melbourne. He singled out playing finals and the friendships he formed as personal highlights.

“Early days, I was lucky enough to play a few finals games,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“Our first final win that I was involved in, [it] was a good feeling playing with a lot of good mates, so winning a first final with the footy club was probably one of my big highlights.

“Getting to play alongside the likes of David Neitz, Adem Yze, James McDonald and ‘Brucey’ [Cameron Bruce], those types of guys, who I still get along with really well today [was another highlight].”

Looking back on his early days at Melbourne, Rivers said one honour he never expected was his NAB AFL Rising Star award in 2004, the first won by a Melbourne player.

“[I was] alongside Aaron Davey at the time who did his hamstring with five weeks to go, so I think was lucky enough that he did his hamstring because I don’t think I would have won otherwise,” he said with a smile.

“He (Davey) would have easily won, but it’s something I’ll look back on when I’ve got a family down the track and tell the kids one day. [It was] a very special moment.”

Rivers said that while he experienced a range of high and lows over his 10 years at Melbourne, he “wouldn’t change a thing”.

“When you come into a club at such a young age and you experience so many different situations along the way, I think it has definitely made [me] the person I am today and I’m proud of that fact,” he said.

“Coming into an organisation that was great to me for 10 years and [getting] to meet so many fantastic people within the organisation, and also to come away with some really close friends, is a pretty good thing.”

Although his decision to leave Melbourne did not come easy, Rivers said it was the one that was best for him at that point in his career.

“No doubt it was tough at the time. I had a really good friendship group there [at Melbourne] and it was a decision that I made coming to the end of my career; I really wanted to taste a premiership and Geelong gave me that opportunity,” he said.

“[It] was one of those things that I was really proud of; making that move and developing some new friendships and seeing how great a club like Geelong went about their footy.”

Rivers said that it was a “good feeling” to be receiving his Melbourne life membership alongside former teammates Nathan Jones and Colin Sylvia.

“It probably won’t sink in [for a while] but I can sit back and think about it a bit,” he said.

“I’ve been through some ups and downs with the footy club, but to come back and receive an award like this definitely means a lot to me.”