‘The right time': Dockers star Fyfe announces retirement
Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe has announced his retirement, with the dual Brownlow medallist to hang up his boots at the end of the season.
Fyfe has made the call to finish a career that has made him one of the biggest names in the game and arguably the greatest player in Dockers history.
The 33-year-old has played 245 matches and last weekend returned to Fremantle's line-up as he looks to lead a premiership push in his final season.
Fyfe said it was 'the right time' to draw his distinguished career to a close.
'Retiring has been a conversation that has been ongoing for probably the last 12 months with my family, my partner Bridget, my close circle, JL (Justin Longmuir), Joe Brierty and Simon Garlick,' Fyfe said.
'It just feels like it's the right time.
'I'm just immensely grateful for what my AFL experience and playing with Fremantle has given to me. Fyfe gets a kick away against Port Adelaide last weekend. Credit: Mark Brake / Getty Images
'It's been an enormous opportunity and has taken me to places I could never have dreamed of.
'Knowing this is the end of my career, I leave with a sense of understanding that I don't need anything further, which is a really peaceful place to be, and yet myself - and the team - still find ourselves in a position where that elusive premiership dream is well and truly alive.'
Fyfe sits firmly in the conversation for Fremantle's greatest player of all time, and league-wide is among the most decorated players of the 2010s.
He snared the first of his Brownlow Medals in 2015 before repeating in 2019, placing him in an elite group alongside Greg Williams, Robert Harvey, Adam Goodes, Chris Judd, Gary Ablett Jr, Lachie Neale and Patrick Cripps as the only players with multiple wins in the past half-century. Nat Fyfe with his first Brownlow Medal in 2015. Credit: Michael Dodge / AFL Media
Fyfe was recognised by his peers as the best player in the game by winning the AFL Players' Association's Leigh Matthews Medal in 2014 and 2015. He made the All-Australian side in both of those years and received a third blazer in 2019, when he was named captain of the side.
His three Doig Medals are second only to Matthew Pavlich's six in Dockers history, while he also served as Fremantle skipper for six seasons from 2017 to 2022.
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