Atthe end of the day values kept Geelong’s defender Tom Lonergan from moving tothe Bulldogs after being offered a lucrative three-year contract.

Manybelieved the firing of Bulldog’s coach Brendan McCartney was the reason Lonergandeclined the offer, however, he told SEN it was just the icing on a decision hehad already made. 

Lonergan,who was delisted and re-rookied by Geelong following a serious on-field injuryto his kidneys in 2006, admitted he couldn’t imagine not ending his career as aone-club-player.   

“Ithink a lot of people think I decided to stay at Geelong because Macca resignedbut I’d actually made my mind up that I was going to stay at Geelong beforethat happened,” Lonergan told SEN Inside Football.

“Whenall the stuff with Macca blew up it just helped confirm the decision I’dalready made.

“JasonMcCartney (Bulldogs list manager) rang me to say the deal was still on thetable but I said thanks but no thanks.”

Regardlessof his decision, Lonergan, who will reach his 150^th game with theCats early next season, knew he had the support of the club and his closeteammates.

“Ispent the weekend in Sydney with Corey Enright, Jared Rivers and Andrew Mackieand they all said they understood if I wanted to go,” Lonergan said.

“WhenI told Neil Balme about the Dogs’ offer he half joked and said ‘what are youstill doing here?’

“Mymind changed almost on an hourly basis but in the end the deciding factor wasreputation. I value that really highly and for me being a one-club player was abig part of that.

“I’vebeen at Geelong since the start and ending my career with the Cats is somethingI think I’ll look back on as a good decision when my career is over.”

Sincemaking his debut in 2005, Lonergan has played 145 games including the 2011 premiershipand the 2008 Grand Final against Hawthorn, where he kicked two goals.