The Western Bulldogs' longest-serving player, Chris Grant, announced his retirement from the AFL, ending a decorated career but one tinged with disappointment.

The 34-year-old former captain made the announcement at the club's best and fairest count at Melbourne's Crown Palladium, after playing for 18 seasons and a club record 341 matches.

While he leaves the game widely admired and with a long list of achievements, including two club best and fairests and three All Australian selections, his career will also be remembered for two things he failed to achieve - a premiership and a Brownlow Medal.

Grant said he would always envy former club greats such as Ted Whitten, who had played in premierships sides and he said while the Bulldogs were a club full of great people, they could not be considered a great club until they broke a premiership drought which has lasted since 1954.

"We say greatness a lot and we talk about the club being a great club," Grant said.

"We're a great club for what we stand for ... but if you were to evaluate where the team's been for a long period of time, all you can say is we've been a pretty good team.

"That's the thing that has to change, we have to become a great team on the field."

Grant played in three preliminary finals, including a bitterly disappointing two-point loss to Adelaide in 1997, without reaching a grand final.

He went even closer to winning the game's highest individual honour that year, topping the Brownlow count, but being ruled ineligible because of a suspension for an incident not deemed worthy of report by the officiating umpire.

The previous year he had finished one vote shy of joint winners Michael Voss and James Hird.

Grant made an instant impact on the AFL, despite starting his career as a 17-year-old in 1990, having been selected at No.105 in the 1998 national draft.

Remarkably, he led the Bulldogs' goal-kicking in his debut season, with 51 goals, a feat he achieved again in 1994, when he kicked 71 goals.

After starting out as a key forward, the courageous, strong-marking Grant later spent just as much time in defence, proving equally adept at both ends of the ground.

He went close to leaving the Bulldogs at the end of 1996, a year in which he was named the club's best and fairest player for the second time, when AFL newcomer Port Adelaide made him a huge offer.

It came at a time when the Bulldogs' future was uncertain, because of their financial troubles.

Among the factors that convinced him to stay was a letter from a six-year-old Bulldogs supporter, who included his "life savings", 20 cents, to help sway Grant.

He had a major career setback in the opening round of 2003, when he sustained a season-ending knee injury as a 30-year-old, but still produced some fine football in the following three seasons.

Last season, he played all 24 matches as the Bulldogs surged into the finals for the first time in six years, helping convince him to play for another season.

But his career finished on a down note this year, when he missed the first 12 games with a groin injury, playing only five for the season as the club slumped to 13th place.

He joins another former captain Luke Darcy, along with Brett Montgomery and Matthew Robbins as Bulldogs retirees.

Grant also adds to a list of retiring greats this season that includes Hird, Glenn Archer, Mark Ricciuto and Anthony Koutoufides.

Collingwood's Nathan Buckley and Fremantle's Peter Bell could join that list later this week.

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