James Graham is in no doubt he has chosen the right time to step away from the England team after announcing his decision to retire from international rugby league.
The St Helens forward brings his international career to a close having won a record 44 caps for the national team, along with earning a further nine for Great Britain following his debut in 2006.
Graham admitted to some sadness he would not longer be pulling on an England shirt, with his club future beyond this year still to be confirmed, but after giving it much thought the 35-year-old has decided to call time on his national team career.
"Now is the right time and I've been thinking about it a lot lately, reflecting on my time playing for England and how much it means to me," Graham said.
"I never took it for granted, but it was always something that was there at the end of the season if I thought I was playing well enough.
"I really enjoyed it and it was hard at time, especially after a long season, but it was always something I looked forward to.
"It's pretty gutting it's not going to happen anymore because I really enjoyed my time playing for England and Great Britain."
The cancellation of this year's Ashes series against Australia as a result of the covid-19 pandemic robbed Graham of the chance to sign off his international career on these shores, with the four caps he won on last year's Great Britain tour being his last on the world stage.
The prospect of playing in a home Rugby League World Cup next year, having represented England in the 2008, 2013 and 2017 editions, was not enough to tempt him to carry on for at least another year either.
"Of course, that came into play, but when I assessed all the details of the situation, I'd be 36 after another season of potentially playing and thought now was the right time to call it," Graham said.
"It sort of stopped me and gave me a bit of safety from myself. It makes it real, announcing it. I'm not playing games with myself.
"Sometimes I wake up and think I could, but I think I need to protect myself a little bit from doing that."
Graham departs the international arena having won many admirers around the world and with plenty of memories to look back on and be proud of.
Scoring two tries on his Great Britain debut in a mid-season international against New Zealand at St Helens' old Knowsley Road home, captaining the England team aged just 25 and being part of the team which reached the World Cup final in 2017 are just some of the stand-out moments for him.
So too are the friendships forged with players from other clubs who had only been opponents previously, but perhaps the proudest occasion for Liverpool native Graham was skippering the team to a series-clinching 20-14 win over New Zealand at Anfield in 2018.
"It was unfortunate circumstances that Sean O'Loughlin wasn't playing, and I got made to be captain at Anfield," Graham said.
"It was series-clinching win...but on a personal level, to do it my home city of Liverpool at Anfield in front of some friends and family I hadn't played in front of for a long, long time meant a lot to me.
"I broke down at the end of that game and I was just overcome with emotion. After it, seeing my nieces and nephew, brothers and sisters, I caught up with a few mates in a pub after the game - I ducked off before we went for our team meal just to see them and it's hard to put into words what that meant on a personal level.
"To do it with a group of lads that became so close in the World Cup and came so close [to winning it] as well, we needed to cement that with a series win or a trophy, and we managed to do that."