Mick Malthouse reveals the players he thinks should consider retiring after the 2020 season

Gary Ablett and Heath Shaw have basically declared this season will be their last but is the curtain drawing on the careers of more players who have been stars for many years? Mick Malthouse on the veterans who should hang up the boots.

Will this be Jack Riewoldt’s final season? Picture: Jason Edwards

With a rush to complete the home-and-away season, some players will be compromised. The “managed”, the very young, the old and the overused.

It is with some trepidation that I say some of these players will soon realise that this strange season will be their last. I’ll preface my opinion with the belief that you are always better to retire when you have something left in the tank, than nothing at all.

Age is not a prerequisite for retirement, as we’ve seen with Shaun Burgoyne who turns 38 in October, and 36-year-old Gary Ablett.

The retirement question comes down impact.

If your impact has been reduced because of a loss of pace, lesser output, a recurring injury, or ineffective disposal, then there is no value in not being valued in the top 22 players at your club, even after a long and distinguished career.

Pride sometimes overrides common sense though.

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Heath Shaw could be playing his final few matches at AFL level. Picture: Getty Images

There is a terrible term used in sport, use-by date, but sometimes the athlete is the last to work out that when pace, durability, reflexes and sharpness of mind start to diminish, then time has caught up with you.

At the end of the season every player is mentally tired, but a summer break works wonders to freshen up the mind.

It is the body that is a lot harder to recuperate. Pace lost doesn’t return. The injuries that keep you awake at night make for stiff joints at the end of every day. Dimmed reflexes don’t get sharper.

Some names in the following list will be obvious. Others will stare at the coach with a blank face when he’s given the hurry along, but while stats aren’t everything they don’t lie either.

My dear friend Heath Shaw is surely playing his final season at Greater Western Sydney. But with his brilliant football brain he should not be finished with football. He sees the game better than anyone I’ve coached and should be snapped up by the Giants in a development or coaching role.

Shaun Burgoyne has been unbelievable in a highly-decorated career. But with Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett suggesting a rebuild, Burgoyne should be one of a few Hawks hanging up the boots in October.

Demon Nathan Jones is a warrior, but with an average of six kicks and seven handpasses in six matches this season (plus one goal) before Saturday’s clash against the Bulldogs, his output is not enough to justify another year.

What does the future hold for Nathan Jones and Travis Varcoe? Picture: Michael Klein

Gary Ablett has declared this season will be his last, but he is for another story, as an outright champion who continues to hold his own.

Justin Westhoff has been in and out of the Port Adelaide team this year, suggesting that this is his last chance to win a premiership with the club he has faithfully served for 14 seasons.

In the same category, across town, is Bryce Gibbs at Adelaide.

Stefan Martin has been an outstanding shorter-statured ruckman, but he is succumbing to injury too often, just as the Brisbane Lions make a genuine push for the cup.

Perhaps he has one last chance to help make it happen.

Carlton’s Matthew Kreuzer simply can’t put enough games together to consider continuing next year.

Dayne Beams seems to be happier and more comfortable out of footy these days, and good for him. He should make it official.

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Collingwood teammates Ben Reid and Travis Varcoe have just had too many soft tissue injuries to string enough games together to be consistent competitors. When you’re in and out of the side as a senior player, unfortunately, it’s time to go.

And now to the less obvious. Time waits for no one and nor do football clubs.

Jack Riewoldt should consider going out on a high.

The Richmond champion has averaged seven kicks and a handpass in 12 games this year (before last night against Essendon), and kicked 18 goals from 12 games (including a bag of four against Brisbane.)

It takes a good player to defend him, but he has lost power in his leap so we are seeing less of those marks he’s recognised for. He’s lost a couple of metres with his kick and there’s a hint that he’s lost pace as he is no longer a tackling player.

Riewoldt is one of my favourites to watch and his enthusiasm will be missed at Richmond, but when his output is less than what is expected of him then he needs to ask himself the question — should I get out now?

Eddie Betts, with an average of nine disposals per match, and 11 goals from as many games in 2020, has played a great cameo role with Carlton this year, but we haven’t seen his consistent best for a couple of seasons. Not since Charlie Cameron left Adelaide and the star duo was split up.

The Blues are on the move up so the question must be posed whether Betts can still justify his spot in the team.

Marc Murphy has become an extreme outside player. The 33-year-old has averaged nearly disposals from 12 matches and booted just two goals. He could go on next year for similar stats, but does that help Carlton’s cause?

A Blues player at 36 who could go on is Kade Simpson. He has again been outstanding and always looks steady.

Adelaide’s former captain Taylor Walker, with just 11 goals from 10 games, has been sadly out of touch for at least two seasons. He’s lost his speed and potency. With the Crows’ need to rebuild and reinvent their list, now would be a good time for him to bow out.

I had doubts about Tom Hawkins’ ability to play a full season at 32 and with a history of back problems, but this shorter season has suited him well and he has been outstanding. I’m pleased to see Geelong is in talks to re-sign him.

Robbie Gray’s form has dropped off in 2020. Picture: Michael Klein

There also seems to be no stopping Harry Taylor, who like Hawkins and Ablett, has been in tremendous form. The 34-year-old consistently holds his own against the best forwards and should go around for the Cats again.

One wonders why they recruited Josh Jenkins and whether it will turn out to be a fleeting move to Geelong for the former Crow.

Essendon’s Tom Bellchambers and Cale Hooker, as much as I love the way they go about their work, have played six and five games respectively this season (before the Dreamtime clash), so it seems their bodies can’t support their ambition. It may well be that Sam Draper forces the hand of Bellchambers by taking his place in the team.

Hawthorn’s reinvention through youth means there’s no case for the likes of Paul Puopolo, Ricky Henderson, James Frawley and Ben Stratton to play another year, except that they will heavily miss James Sicily until he returns from injury, so there may be a temptation to keep Stratton and Frawley on. Does Stratton still captain though, or could Jaeger O’Meara lead the club in 2021?

The Hawks have always had the ability to attract players because of coach Alastair Clarkson, so watch this space.

Robbie Gray. His name on this list may surprise some, but, with a loss of pace and depth in his kicking, 10 goals from 12 games before this round is not a huge output. He is getting by due to a very good football mind. One of my favourite players to watch, I wouldn’t want one year too many to damage his well-earned reputation.

Heading into a redevelopment stage, Sydney may lose a couple of big names.

Josh Kennedy, averaging 18 disposals a game, could serve up more of the same next year, or he could retire, on top, and make room for a youngster.

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Likewise Lance Franklin. A hamstring injury has kept him out of the entire season so far, which must produce doubts for the club and himself as to his future, even with two years to run on his contract. At 33, he won’t get any quicker or any less prone to injury as time goes on, and one thing you want for a true champion of our game is to always be remembered that way.

When the AFL decides on list numbers for 2021 it will make it more convenient to keep youth in preference to the twilight players.

The retirement question is never an easy one to answer, whether it’s of your own doing or being done for you. But it’s a reality for everyone, eventually.

Originally published as Mick Malthouse reveals the players he thinks should consider retiring after the 2020 season