Priddis to give it away, Mitchell set to follow

WEST Coast veteran Matt Priddis has revealed he broke down after making the decision to retire, but he’s convinced it’s the right call.

Priddis announced his retirement yesterday — just seven weeks after signing a one-year contract extension. The 32-year-old will play out the season before hanging up his boots. Fellow Brownlow medallist Sam Mitchell is also set to retire at the end of the year, although coach Adam Simpson wouldn’t confirm or deny it when asked yesterday.

Drew Petrie is almost certain to join the star midfielders in retirement, while the futures of Sam Butler, Sharrod Wellingham, Eric Mackenzie, Mark LeCras and Josh Hill are up in the air.

Priddis said he had been contemplating retirement for the past two months. The case to retire became too compelling to ignore as his form started to wane. “Over a 10-week period, it was coming into my thoughts probably more frequently than I would have liked,” Priddis said yesterday, with the entire West Coast player group looking on.

“Once you actually say, ‘Bang, this is what we’re going to do’, it really hits home.

“That’s when I broke down. It was probably Tuesday. I had to leave early that day. It was pretty tough.” Priddis tallied just 16 disposals in last week’s loss to Collingwood, and has cracked the 20-possession mark just once in his past four games. But he insists he wasn’t pushed into retirement.

“This is my call. I know it’s the right decision,” Priddis said. “I put my own hand up and say I don’t think I can play a good enough role for the team, and the team is always first.’’