He left South Australia in 1981 to play with the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFL, wearing the No.
[3] With the return of Ron Alexander to Western Australia, however, Rendell was to make the ruck position his own, barring injuries, until 1987.
In one game, Rendell, who had not kicked a goal in his previous seventeen games for Fitzroy, was used as a seventh forward to counter North Melbourne's Gary Dempsey's habit of marking in the last line of defence; as a result of this strategy, Rendell kicked eight goals and the Lions won the game by 150 points, which at the time more than doubled the previous biggest loss by a minor premier.
Rendell was an assistant coach and match-day tactician with the St Kilda Football Club, alongside Grant Thomas, until he was sacked at the end of 2006 with the appointment of Ross Lyon.
In 2007, he returned to South Australia, joining the Adelaide Football Club as their recruitment manager.