Fremantle champion Nat Fyfe has bid farewell to the AFL after the Dockers’ one-point loss to Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Fyfe, who started as the substitute, was activated at three-quarter time when his side was trailing by 15 points.
He left the bench to do his warm-up down in the rooms midway through the third quarter, but then went back to the bench and cooled his jets.
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Fyfe replaced Jye Amiss during the final change, but didn’t actually come on until the six-minute mark of the quarter.
The crowd noise was deafening as he entered the field of play.
There was a loud roar every time the two-time Brownlow medallist touched the ball and he had a few important moments in the thrilling final quarter.
He produced a brilliant contested mark on the wing and looked to have helped inspire his side to a brilliant comeback when Luke Jackson put the Dockers up by a goal with two minutes remaining.
But fellow retiring veteran David Swallow had other ideas. After Mac Andrew had levelled the scores with a minute remaining, Swallow won a free kick on the edge of the 50m arc.
He soaked up his full 30 seconds and kicked what initially looked like a goal that sparked wild celebrations.
But a lengthy delay and then review showed it was touched by the man on the mark.
However, that point proved the difference in the end.
Fyfe and Swallow shared a nice moment in the middle after the siren before the Fremantle champion was chaired off to a standing ovation.
The home crowd, while shattered with the loss, paid tribute to their favourite son with a rousing reception.
Fyfe bids farewell to the Dockers crowd. Credit: Channel 7 “He sort of changed the game, what he was able to do on the field. He was so different, so unique,” Channel 7 commentator Joel Selwood said.
“He was the first big midfielder along with Patrick Dangerfield coming through at the same time, we remember that game over in Adelaide. It’s jumping at the ball, it’s kicking important goals. He’s a star.”
Kane Cornes added: “He was an absolute beast. Sometimes you just don’t get that fairytale. He deserved a premiership as much as anyone, unfortunately sometimes it doesn’t play out that way.”
Fyfe later attended the post-match press conference with his coach Justin Longmuir and said he was “a bit numb”.
But there was a sense of satisfaction having given himself every chance to win a flag.
“The game’s been very generous and I’m grateful for that,” he said.
“To be able to get back and actually be involved in this game … I’m really grateful.
“I finish disappointed in some ways with how this season went but those memories will eventually turn into fond ones for what’s been an amazing experience.”
Asked if he is content or feels there is something missing without the team success, Fyfe said he didn’t need to win a grand final.
“We all want to win premierships. I do have some contentness that I tried everything, gave absolutely everything to the club and evolved myself along the way,” he said.
“In some ways my journey was more important for me not to win than to win.”
In an extraordinary revelation, Fyfe said he rolled his ankle on Tuesday and “hardly got up” for tonight’s final.
“It was just at the end of training. It wasn’t too bad but at my age and with scar tissue, a small ankle can turn into a major thing. But it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
It was, though, the latest – and last – in a slew of injury troubles this year.
“The game tried many different times to tell me that the end of the road was near and so I walk away knowing this is definitely the right time,” Fyfe said.
Fyfe announced this season would be his last at the beginning of August.
Nat Fyfe in purple
Games: 248
Goals: 178
All Australian 2014, 2015, 2019
Brownlow medallist 2015, 2019
Best and fairest 2013, 2014, 2019
AFLPA MVP 2014, 2015