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Adelaide have done a backflip and granted retiring veteran Tyson Edwards a farewell AFL match.
Edwards, 33, quit on Thursday when dropped from Adelaide’s side to play St Kilda in Melbourne on Saturday night.
The 320-game veteran wanted a farewell match but was initially refused by coach Neil Craig.
But Craig admitted that decision was wrong, and the durable onballer will now play his final game at home against Fremantle in round 11.
Craig said his initial decision was based on his selection principles where games were not gifted to any player.
“In this particular instance, with the circumstances involved and calibre of player we are talking about, that decision should have been based on what is best for the club rather than what is best on the selection principle which I uphold,” Craig said on Friday.
“What came to me was, here’s an opportunity for a player who has an extraordinary career in terms of the level of performance that he has played at, let alone the length of time … what a fantastic opportunity for him to say his farewell after spending 16 years at this football club.
“A great opportunity for our football club in an industry where it is cut-throat, highly professional, very little sentiment shown in a lot of situations.
“And in this particular situation we have the capacity and we have the circumstance where we can still show care and engender a sense of belonging to one of our people.”
Edwards said his decision to retire midseason was not easy “but one that I think is best for myself and best for the football club going forward”.
“To me, not be able to contribute to the team on game day … I thought it was best for myself and best for my footy club to be able to play a young guy in my position, spend some more time on them, rather than worry about what they are going to do with me,” he said on Friday.
“That was basically what I based my decision on.
“I haven’t been completely happy with my form, it’s not at the level that I want it to be at.
“At the end of the day, my form is not good enough – that is footy.”
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