Kade Simpson chairs off Sam Docherty in Carlton veteran's emotional goodbye to footy
The Blues' 9.7 (61) to 13.7 (85) loss to Hawthorn sounded the final siren on the ex-Carlton skipper's AFL career following his retirement announcement earlier in the week.
Despite the result Docherty's third-quarter goal proved a highlight before he was chaired off alongside Jacob Weitering, playing his 200th game, after the match.
Blues great turned Hawthorn assistant coach Kade Simpson crossed the divide to carry Docherty alongside his other great mate Patrick Cripps.
'This is a pretty special moment,' Luke Hodge said in commentary for Channel 7.
Docherty followed the farewell by immediately running back out onto the ground to thank the Carlton cheer squad one last time.
He retires as one of the most admired players in the league after overcoming three ACL injuries and two bouts of testicular cancer.
'Strange feeling, to be honest. It's all I've done for 14 years — I don't really know how to sum it up at the moment,' Docherty told Channel 7.
'Amazing to have all my friends, family (here), share the game with Weiters, chair-off with Simmo, it's about as good as I could've felt other than getting the win.
'Strange feeling not coming in next week or having to do any recovery after this but I've had a career I'm pretty proud of, happy to go and relax and do some other stuff for a while.'
Docherty was celebrated with a presentation in the rooms, surrounded by his wife, two children and their family.
'The finality of it — it's quite jarring,' AFL great Nick Riewoldt said post-game.
'That whole chapter of your life is over. In Sam's case you walk away with really an unprecedented level of respect because of the challenges that he's faced.
'Pretty special to be going home with your family to embark on that next chapter.'
It took some time for Carlton to show some fight for the No.15 in his final game, with the playing group clearly limping to the end of the season after a horror campaign.
The Blues had just one goal to their name and trailed by nearly 40 points early in the second quarter.
Hawthorn's sixth win from seven outings strengthened their grip on a top-eight spot and kept them firmly in top-four contention with a 13-6 record.
Jack Gunston (three goals), Calsher Dear, Mitch Lewis and Nick Watson (two each) shared the load in attack for Hawthorn.
Will Day made a successful return from a foot injury with 15 disposals on limited minutes, and hauled in a spectacular mark over Lachie Fogarty.
Fellow Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe was subbed out in the third term — described as 'managed' by the club — after a second successive quiet performance.
Dylan Moore (27 touches), Jarman Impey (25) and Josh Ward (22) were all busy.
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Courier-Mail
34 minutes ago
- Courier-Mail
AFL 2025: Melbourne Demons cop huge whack after St Kilda melt down in record-breaking loss
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'He turns to correct and he's not organising Viney. He should be saying to Viney, 'Come back' … Bowey turns and he's not even facing the play. 'I don't understand how they've capitulated so poorly in the space of 30 seconds. 'They haven't assessed the situation. 'They haven't assessed the likely danger zones and they've allowed Wanganeen-Milera to charge unopposed into that dangerous area through a lack of understanding of what's going to happen and a lack of communication. 'This is on them and the details matter. This comes back to coaching, I don't care what anyone says. 'It comes back to learnt habits, learnt skills at training … They should have known these things. This is their profession. 'I'm disappointed with Melbourne because this is a game they played really well for three quarters and have just lost their minds. 'It's the dumbest thing I've seen this year. 'Viney standing, wrong side of his opponent 30 metres (away), giving a tall – a targeted player – he can contested mark this guy Caminiti, allowing him to go inside 50 unopposed is just a cardinal sin.' Goodwin was seen looking bemused on the bench while their footy head of development Mark Williams was still counting players when the ball was handed back to Saints big man Rowan Marshall – who nailed the kick to Wanganeen-Milera. 'Pickett and Petracca didn't have to be at the circle,' Fox Footy's Leigh Montagna said. 'They could have been all the way back just inside the square because they knew it was St Kilda's free kick. 'Simon Goodwin was coaching from the bench … he wasn't giving instructions to his players at all. He was standing there watching. Demons head of development Mark Williams was spotted counting players. 'If you're on the bench, that's one of the advantages you have as a coach is to be able to yell out to your players in that situation. 'Jack Viney, his vice-captain, would have been 40 metres away from him.' Speaking after the one-goal loss, Goodwin described the defeat as 'unacceptable'. 'We won't shy away from it at all. We won't sugar-coat it,' he said. 'We'll just own it and do something about it and make sure it never happens again. 'Today is unacceptable. For all the good that was in the day, that last quarter was so far off.' Originally published as 'Dumbest thing seen': Dees' huge whack after St Kilda melt down
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Melbourne captain Max Gawn says he didn't get organised fast enough in the frantic loss to St Kilda
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Chilling picture emerges as death threat towards Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin rocks the AFL
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