Departure lounge fills up
YESTERDAY we saw another two great footballers retire after superb careers at their respective clubs.
Josh Gibson and Bob Murphy have followed vastly different paths, with the former a triple-premiership player and two-time best-andfairest winner, and the latter a guy who has embodied the spirit of the Western Bulldogs over 18 years.
Their decisions come in the wake of retirement announcements from Luke Hodge, Nick Riewoldt, Steve Johnson, Matthew Boyd, Scott Thompson, Sam Mitchell, Jobe Watson and Matt Priddis, just to name a few.
In recent weeks there have been a few commentators who have suggested some of these champions, perhaps, went on for one year too many and their retirements should have come at the end of last season when there was still petrol in the tank.
I completely disagree with this notion. Why should any player leave the game wondering if — or in some cases knowing that — they have more to give? Take a look at James Kelly. Here is a guy who was shown the door at Geelong after 273 games with the Cats despite him believing he had a bit of football still left in him.
The circumstances at Essendon drew him back into playing and he has been a standout for the Bombers over the past two seasons.
He should be looking at going on again in 2018 because at the moment there are no signs of him slowing down.
In Murphy’s case, he simply had to play after missing the 2016 premiership. Imagine if he’d retired and the Dogs went on to go back-to-back and he wasn’t part of that success for a second year.
Watson is another guy who was always going to play on and he deserved that opportunity after being put through hell by his club for the past four years. Twenty years on from now he would have had huge regrets had he not gone back.
I also think that there is a chance Thompson could play a role for the Crows later this year.
He has only been used in the one game so far but he is still playing in the SANFL, is super fit, experienced, and could be a very handy asset to Don Pyke in September.
Again, he is a player who has enjoyed plenty of individual accolades but not the ultimate team success.
My old mate Johnno is another one whose name has been brought up recently in discussions about players going on for one season too many. His body might be packing up on him, he is slower and can’t do the things he did last year, let alone five years ago, but not many blokes can finish their career with their body at a point where they think they can still play at the top level.
If the Giants go on and win it this year and he is in that first premiership team for the Giants, that is an amazing success story.
If he had retired at the end of last year he would be kicking himself.
Back in 2011 it was about January or February when I thought I was going to pull the pin, but with another chance of playing in a grand final, I had to keep going. I didn’t get there but I would say it was one of my proudest years, even though it was one of the most frustrating.
It is up to the individual but I would rather they go one year too many and be sure they left nothing behind, because you just never know.
And in any case, not one of this year’s group of retirees will have their legacies tarnished by playing on this season.
The great players that we have seen over the past 20 seasons who are finishing up at the end of this year will never have to worry about their standing in the game.