Right time to hang up boots: Richardson
Richmond legend Matthew Richardson retires from the AFL with a heavy heart, but is certain he has made the right decision.
One of the modern game's best and most popular players has ended his 280-game career because of an ongoing hamstring injury.
Richardson had scans on the problematic tendon last Monday and they showed it had not improved from two months ago.
The story about his retirement broke late on Thursday and Richardson held a packed media conference at the club's Punt Rd headquarters on Friday morning.
"I'm disappointed, but I've made the right decision," he said.
"I really did want to pull on the jumper again."
Richardson was the oldest player this year at 34 and he knew the hamstring injury would need surgery for him to have any chance of playing again.
The injury restricted him to only six games this season.
New Tigers coach Damien Hardwick has described Richardson as "a giant of the game" and says 15 other AFL coaches are happy that the Richmond key forward has retired.
"When people come through the gate to watch a certain player, that's the mark of a champion," Hardwick said.
The club will give fans a chance to cheer Richardson at the start of next season, probably with a lap of honour before their round-one game against Carlton at the MCG.
"I've been thinking about it (retirement) for a couple of months now, stewing on it in my mind, and I guess it really hit home on Monday," Richardson said.
"I had a pretty ordinary medical diagnosis ... it confirmed the gut feeling I already had that my body is not going to stand up to another year of AFL football.
"I guess I couldn't look people around the club and supporters in the eye by saying that I was ready to go, when deep down I knew I wasn't.
"The timing is definitely right, I'm really comfortable with the decisions and I'm really looking forward to moving on now."
While Richardson was clearly moved by a sustained round of applause at his media conference, he was in good spirits and frequently cracked jokes.
He drew big laughs from his team-mates at the start of the media conference by saying he felt like Channel Ten's Sandra Sully reading the evening news.
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