In other possibly related West Coast news.....................................
Darren Glass retires.
Champion West Coast Eagles defender Darren Glass has played his last game.
The 270-game veteran has battled hip and ankle injuries this year and was struggling to produce quality performances in line with his career benchmarks. He will retire immediately.
The revered West Coast captain told teammates of his decision minutes before fronting a press conference to make the announcement at Patersons Stadium this morning.
“I have really been struggling to back up from one game to the next,†Glass said. “It is time for me to step aside and give someone else a go.
“Playing consecutive games has been a real challenge for me and as much as I am still mentally sharp and I enjoy coming to the club and training every day, physically I just can‘t get to the levels that I want to play at and the levels the team needs.
“It has been a tough decision, but I am comfortable that it‘s the right decision.â€
As much as Glass would like to guide his teammates out of the current situation, which sees the club sitting in 11th position with just four wins after the first 11 rounds, he could not continue.
The man who has been captain of the club for 129 matches since 2007 has been an outstanding leader - with only his former coach, John Worsfold (138) leading the club into battle more often - succumbed after trying to fight through the pain.
Glass, a four-time All-Australian, who was named captain of that team in 2012, has been the stand-out key defender of his era.
Strong, powerful and deceptively fast over the ground, he could battle hulking figures like Matthew Pavlich or Tom Hawkins, but was equally adept at shutting down the likes of Stephen Milne or Eddie Betts.
Over the first half of this season Glass, in conjunction with the club‘s medical staff, had managed his body through limited training sessions, but it was a struggle to be fit for the eight games he played.
For Glass, the alarm bells that were sounding softly in the back of his mind grew in volume when he was a late withdrawal from the team to play North Melbourne a fortnight ago.
Having played against GWS in round eight, then enjoying the bye in round nine, he led the team against Collingwood at the MCG a week later. But after that light playing schedule, he could not recover to play against North.
Then, after playing against Hawthorn in Launceston last Saturday, he was not going to be available to play against Gold Coast on Saturday. For him, that was the final indicator that his time in elite football was over.
While Glass steps aside as captain, there is no immediate plan to elevate anyone within the leadership group to that position. That load will be shared by Scott Selwood, Josh Kennedy, Matt Priddis and Eric Mackenzie.
Darren Glass
Born: May 14, 1981
Height: 192cm
Weight: 93kg
Came from: Northam/Perth Football Club
Drafted: 1999, selection 11
Debut: Round 4, 2000 v Adelaide at the WACA Ground
Games: 270
Goals: 8
Football honours: Club Champion 2007, 2009, 2011; runner-up Club Champion 2006; All-Australian 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012 (captain); West Coast Eagles captain 2007-2014 (129 matches); premiership player 2006.
Laters
Given up on the season and a rebuilding I guess.
The Darren Glass video on AFL website is fkn hilarious. Half of it is just him running into peoples heads and blatantly chopping arms..
Best fullback of the past decade.
Outside of Pav.
who
Give the guy some credit. Great player.
I think Lloyd has stated he was one of the toughest to play on maybe the toughest.
Shattered
DEAR GOD!!!!!!!Shattered
Looks like you saw through that pun!!DEAR GOD!!!!!!!Shattered
On the positive it opens up a window of opportunity for a kid to come in
Stop it, the pane is too much.Looks like you saw through that pun!!DEAR GOD!!!!!!!Shattered
On the positive it opens up a window of opportunity for a kid to come in
Shattered
That's sharp
Is he badly injured and unable to play or just walked?
Shattered
That's sharp
Yep, cutting edge humour.
Give the guy some credit. Great player.
I think Lloyd has stated he was one of the toughest to play on maybe the toughest.
That was in the era when you could take out the forward through almost any means. Bit tougher on fbs these days.
He was a good player but I still thought he was a bit overrated.
I love seeing fletch outlive players.
Good player and all that but it is unbelievable how Glass got 4 All Australian guernseys when Fletch only got 2 and one was on the interchange.
Will leave a bit of a crack in their defensive setup.
Yep.
Could play a bit.