Russell played 50 games, kicking 51 goals for Geelong until he left the club at the end of the 1991 AFL season.
Russell initially considered returning to Port Adelaide to finish his career but instead coached in country Victoria for a few years before retiring from football.
Following this success, he was moved full-time to the paper's coverage of the AFL in 1999, including a stint as the writer for The Sunday Age Sport section in the mid-2000s.
Soon, he also co-hosted a sport/comedy segment called "On The Bench" with ex-Geelong player Billy Brownless and the Essendon fanatic "Ferret" (Russell Taylor), twice a week.
[citation needed] In 2012, Russell joined the Friday night 3AW football team while continuing to host Sports Today for the station.