He said he did consider joining Port Melbourne before deciding to stay with Lakers.

Rippon signed with Lake Wendouree at the end of 2019 after seven years in the VFL - five with North Ballarat Roosters after graduating from North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup under-18s, and two with North Melbourne.

Rippon said he had decided to stick with his original plan and play with close mates at Lakers after sitting out 2020 owing to the COVID-19 shutdown.

The 27-year-old said while he was not ruling out ever having another tilt at the VFL - "you never say never" - he felt the time was right to step back from the pressure and greater commitments of the VFL and have some fun playing in the BFL.

He said he was proud of what he had achieved in the the VFL, but it was now time for change.

Rippon won the VFL best and fairest, the JJ Liston Trophy, in 2015.

He was also a best and fairest with the Roosters and North Melbourne after progressing through East Ballarat junior ranks and then being aligned with East Point and Lake Wendouree as a VFL player.

Rippon's initial plans when he signed with Lake Wendouree were to spend part of the 2020 BFL season travelling overseas - something COVID-19 now makes more diffcult.

What the year off football enabled Rippon to do was have surgery on a troublesome shoulder.

He said his left shoulder kept "popping out".

"It probably did it about 20 times."

He had a shoulder reconstruction mid-year and is well on the way to a full recovery.

Rippon said he would be seeing a surgeon in a few weeks and hoped to get the all clear to start training - something he did not attempt before the Christmas-New Year break.

He said rehabilitation was progressing well and he was confident that he would be fit for round one.

The BFL season is scheduled to start on Saturday, April 17. A home and away fixture is yet to be released.