Bryce Gibbs talks Adelaide Crows, retirement and signing with South Adelaide in the SANFL

As the son of a club great, a return to Glenelg appeared on the cards for Bryce Gibbs. However, the fairytale didn’t play out.

Liz Walsh

5 min read

November 24, 2020 - 9:06AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Bryce Gibbs speaks to the media after announcing his retirement. Picture: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

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Former Adelaide and Carlton star Bryce Gibbs has revealed he has no regrets about stepping away from his stellar career and is in a good, happy space after retiring from AFL and announcing he will play in the SANFL in 2021.

Speaking on SEN radio in Adelaide, the 31-year-old ex-Crows midfielder talked through a wide range of topics, including the relief he feels after hanging up the boots; how tough it was to be overlooked at the Crows selection table; and why he’s passed on Glenelg and will instead join South Adelaide in 2021.

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Bryce Gibbs is looking forward to his next chapter with South Adelaide.

Gibbs, who retired from the AFL following the Crows’ Round 17 win over his former side Carlton this year – ending a 268-game career with the Blues (231 games) and Adelaide (37) – has signed a one-year contract to play with the Panthers.

The 2006 No. 1 draft pick said he chose South over Glenelg – where he started his league career as a 16-year-old in 2005 – because he had an instant connection with coach Jarrad Wright, and was offered a full-time job in junior development.

GIBBS ON RETIRING FROM AFL

He may not have noticed it at the time, but a sense of relief came over Gibbs after he made the decision to step away from the AFL.

“I probably didn’t notice it straight away, but speaking to a lot of my friends and family and even guys from Melbourne, even speaking to them on the phone, they could even tell in my voice how much happier I was in the way I spoke, which multiple (people) have told me,” he said.

“Now that I sit back and I’ve had time to reflect on it all and let it sink in, I’m certainly very happy and very content with stepping away and out of the AFL bubble.

“No doubt once the season rolls around again next year I will probably think about it a little bit more and be a bit sad, but I certainly am very content with my decision.”

Gibbs is chaired off by former Carlton teammates Kade Simpson and Marc Murphy after playing in his final match. Picture: Getty

GIBBS ON HIS TIME AT CROWS

Gibbs says he has no regrets in his decision to leave Carlton for Adelaide, even if the past two seasons didn’t go to plan.

“If you look at the last two years in isolation, they played out in two very different ways, I have no regrets from my end,” he said.

“I sought the clarity I needed, I was open and honest in all of my dialogue with my coaches and where I was at and I think that’s why I am so happy that I could walk away knowing that everything was left on the table.

“For good, bad or indifferent reasons, that’s the way things pan out sometimes whether you like them to or not.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with some of the things my coaches and the club were saying to me, but on the flip side what it did allow me to do is work with some of these young guys coming through at the Crows and that probably sparked my path that I’ve just taken a full-time role at the South Adelaide footy club now in player development.

“It’s funny how things work … things don’t work out for you, but it opens up other doors going forward.

“It is what it is.”

GIBBS ON MISSING OUT AT THE SELECTION TABLE IN 2020

“The club decided to blood a lot more youth, and as a senior player it is a hard pill to swallow at times, I suppose what was frustrating at my end is I was waiting for an opportunity to play some footy and I certainly was told that would be the place and there weren’t a lot of opportunities than what I was told there might be,” Gibbs said.

“That was hard to swallow.

“I’d like to think I handled myself in a very professional way and didn’t crack the s***s and held my head up high.”

Gibbs in action in 2020. Picture: Michael Klein

GIBBS ON OVERLOOKING GLENELG

As the son of Glenelg great Ross Gibbs, said people assumed that Bryce would head home to the Bays, and while it was certainly an option he considered, he did not rush into any decision and weighed up options from three SANFL clubs.

“I wanted to take some time post-retiring and let the dust settle and firstly reflect on my career and my time in the AFL system and I was able to do that and during that time I said to myself that I’d made a decision that I still wanted to play football at some sort of level and that I’d be open to talk to any club, that be in the SANFL, locally or in the country,” he said.

“I did that over a couple of months and met with all sorts of clubs and Glenelg were one of those teams and South were one of those teams and as the process continued on … it came down to between Glenelg and South.”

Gibbs said he was fortunate to have played 30-odd games for the Bays before he was drafted to Carlton in 2006.

“Playing those 30 games before I stepped into the AFL system certainly held me in good stead playing against men and bigger bodies as a 16, 17-year-old,” he said.

A young Bryce Gibbs (right) at Glenelg Oval alongside James Sellar in 2006.

GIBBS ON NEXT YEAR

Gibbs said as he was trying to decide between Glenelg and South Adelaide, that the Panthers presented him with a full-time role of working as a junior player development manager, which was too good to turn down.

He also said he had an instant connection with South coach Jarrad Wright.

“He sent me a text and said can we catch up for a coffee and from that initial first coffee I felt really comfortable with him and we had a bit of a connection,” he said.

“And as negotiations continued on, it just felt right, his vision and where the club’s at and what I can bring to the South Adelaide footy club really sat well with me.”

GIBBS ON HIS INFAMOUS “BAGGERS” TWEET FROM THIS YEAR

“What about some of that … some of those tweets got built up more than they needed to, but people can say what they want now, and I won’t have a care in the world,” he said.