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End of an Eagles era? Priddis, Mitchell to retire at season's end

Expert
28th July, 2017
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Matt Priddis could have been the number-one pick in 2005. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Expert
28th July, 2017
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1423 Reads

Matthew Priddis will retire at the end of the 2017 AFL season, and is expected to be joined in doing so by teammate Sam Mitchell.

Priddis confirmed his decision to retire at a press conference on Friday, and while Mitchell’s decision has not been formally stated, it has been widely reported in the media.

Priddis joined the Eagles via the rookie list before making his AFL debut in 2006. To date he has played 234 career games and kicked 70 goals for the Eagles.

Known more for his hard work and physicality than athleticism, skill or speed, Priddis has been an elite inside midfielder for a lengthy time at AFL level.

“I have attributes where I’m confident, but to play for 12 years being the slowest bloke in the AFL – I’m pretty proud of that,” Priddis joked.

A total of 146 career Brownlow votes – the 30th most of all time and 7th most of any active player – speaks volumes about the respect afforded to him by the AFL community, and culminated in him being the surprise winner of the 2014 award.

Other career accolades include a best-and-fairest at the Eagles in 2013 and All-Australian selection in 2015. He was part of the Eagle’s 2015 losing grand final side.

He also played in two premierships with Subiaco in the WAFL, winning a best-and-fairest there in 2005, and the Sandover Medal in 2006.

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Priddis also holds the record for the most recorded career tackles by any player, having surpassed Lenny Hayes’ tally earlier this year.

Mitchell, of course, has played only a handful of games with the Eagles following a long and illustrious career at Hawthorn.

He played 307 games at the Hawks from 2002 to 2016, and in that time won four AFL premierships and the 2012 Brownlow Medal. He was also a five-time winner of Hawthorn’s best-and-fairest award and a three-time All Australian.

Despite having to wait for his opportunity as an overager from the VFL taken in the third round of the draft, Mitchell has become one of the most iconic midfielders of his generation, worthy of being mentioned alongside the likes of Gary Ablett junior and Chris Judd.

His 220 career Brownlow votes is, alongside Ablett junior, the equal-most in VFL/AFL history of any player to play their entire career under the current voting system.

His move by trade to West Coast in October last year was one of the biggest surprises of the season. It is widely expected that he will transition into a coaching position of some kind with the Eagles.

Sam Mitchell West Coast Eagles AFL 2017 tall

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

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The decisions of Priddis and Mitchell to retire will surely have huge ramifications for the West Coast Eagles as a team, and may signal the beginning of a broader strategy to refresh and rebuild the list.

In particular, Priddis’ retirement comes as a surprising reversal given he signed a new contract to play on in 2018 with the club just last month.

No reason for this change of plans has been specifically expressed, but the Eagles have spoken about it as Priddis’ decision, suggesting it was a change of his mind that led to the move.

However, it would be interesting to know if he was nudged at all by those running the show at West Coast, who may have changed their list management in the past few weeks.

It certainly seems at least mildly suspicious that Priddis could have gone from being confident in his ability to play on to deciding to retire in such a short space of time of his own volition.

The Eagles have the oldest and most experienced list in the league this year, but their performance on field has failed to match that stature.

They are currently ninth on the ladder and have half a chance at best of playing finals at all this year, let alone contending for the premiership.

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Priddis and Mitchell retiring will put a significant dent in their average age and experience, and the likely departure of Drew Petrie will contribute too.

They might not be the only players whose time at the Eagles is up, however.

Mark LeCras (30), Eric Mackenzie (29), Sharrod Wellingham (29) and Josh Hill (28) are all out of contract and have underperformed in 2017.

Chris Masten (28) has struggled to say in the side as well, but is contracted until the end of 2019.

Perhaps West Coast are on the cusp of making a bold – but likely ultimately wise – decision to cut loose some dead wood, focus on youth and build towards a new era, much as North Melbourne did around this time last year.

Time will tell.

For now though, all that should be said is kudos to two memorable midfielders, who both had to take the hard way to become AFL players, and got absolutely everything out of themselves when they did.

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