Star St Kilda midfielder Brad Crouch insists he is at peace despite being forced into retirement at the age of 30 due to a degenerative knee injury.
Crouch choked back tears on Tuesday when he fronted his teammates to inform them he was hanging up the boots.
The 161-game veteran played in the Saints' season opener against Geelong this year but was sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.
Arthroscopic surgery failed to fix the issue, forcing Crouch's hand.
"The knee's no good. I'd be out there if I could," Crouch said.
"I'm pretty relieved to be honest. It's a bit of a weight off the shoulders.
"It was good to come in and see the boys and say farewell.
"I'm very much at peace with it all. It was a massive journey and I absolutely loved it and made a lot of friends.
"It's been up and down for a long time. It makes you reflect on it a little bit.
"I worked out the other night I missed 100 games with injury. I'm proud I've done what I have, and I'm very much happy with the career I've had."
Crouch played 95 games for Adelaide across eight years before making the move to St Kilda at the end of 2020 as a restricted free agent.
He added another 66 for the Saints, including a standout 2023 campaign when he averaged 27 disposals and 5.4 clearances per game.
Crouch won the Crows' best-and-fairest award in 2019, and racked up a career-high 18 Brownlow Medal votes in 2023 under Ross Lyon.
"It’s been a really tough few months and this is definitely not how I saw my footy career ending," Crouch added.
"That being said, I’ve been able to live out my dream of playing AFL at two incredible clubs over 12 seasons, played in a grand final alongside my brother and made many lifelong friends."
