As Josh Gibson announced his retirement on Tuesday, he became the 18th player of 2017 to declare that his career would be coming to an end.
Among those players are some of the most decorated talents the game has ever witnessed.
The cohort includes 20 premierships, 27 All Australian honours, two Brownlow Medals, three Norm Smith Medals, six captains, 24 club best and fairests and over 4,000 games worth of experience.
With the number of retirees now reaching 18, we thought we would put together an on-field line-up featuring each outgoing star.
In the backline, you have six names who combine the elements of a complete defence.
The leadership of Luke Hodge, the skill level of Bob Murphy, the spoiling of Josh Gibson, the run and dash of Heritier Lumumba and the dour defending of Sean Dempster and Zac Dawson.
Read: Which retiring class is better - '07 or '17?
It would certainly be a difficult backline to penetrate.
But this fantastical defence may need not worry about the ball even entering their area, considering the midfield brigade they would be playing alongside.
Five genuine household names: Sam Mitchell, Scott Thompson, Matthew Boyd, Matt Priddis and Jobe Watson.
The midfielders in this side have played, on average, 275.6 games of AFL football- experience isn’t lacking.
Good luck trying to win a contested possession against this squad of on-ballers, with this quintet having earned an incredible 14,532 touches over their time in the game.
The three players across our half-forward line combine for 934 games, headlining a forward line that would be sure to get a solid level of supply.
Nick Riewoldt and Steve Johnson know their way around the big sticks, with ‘Roo’ booting 715 career goals and ‘Stevie J’ putting 510 majors through.
Despite being a somewhat foreign position to the three-time premiership player, James Kelly’s delivery from a forward flank would be a pleasure to watch.
While, former teammates Dennis Armfield and Chris Yarran would reunite to bring a burst of speed to the forward line mix.
All good things must come to an end and, unfortunately for the AFL community, it is time to bid farewell to these 18 men who have given such wonderful service to the game.
The 2017 retirees starting line up
FB: Sean Dempster Zac Dawson Heritier Lumumba
HB: Luke Hodge Josh Gibson Bob Murphy
C: Sam Mitchell Scott Thompson Matthew Boyd
HF: Steve Johnson Nick Riewoldt James Kelly
FF: Dennis Armfield Jesse White Chris Yarran
R: Ivan Maric Matt Priddis Jobe Watson
Luke Hodge
303 games, four premierships, two Norm Smith Medals, three All Australians, two best and fairests, Hawks captain
Nick Riewoldt
334 games, five All Australians, one AFL MVP, six best and fairests, one Rising Star, Saints captain
Sam Mitchell
325 games, four premierships, three All Australians, one Brownlow, five best and fairests, one Rising Star, Hawks captain
Steve Johnson
290 Games, three premierships, three All Australians, one Norm Smith
Matt Priddis
236 games, one Brownlow, one All Australian, one best and fairest
Jobe Watson
218 games, two All Australians, three best and fairests, Bombers captain
Matthew Boyd
291 games, one premiership, three best and fairests, three All Australians, Dogs captain
Scott Thompson
308 games, two best and fairests, one All Australian
Bob Murphy
310 games, two All Australians, Dogs captain
Josh Gibson
225 games, three premierships, two best and fairests, one All Australian
James Kelly
310 games, three premierships, one All Australian
Heritier Lumumba
223 games, one premiership, one All Australian
Dennis Armfield
143 games
Jesse White
127 games
Zac Dawson
166 games
Sean Dempster
222 games, one premiership, one All Australian
Ivan Maric
157 games
Chris Yarran
119 games
