CTV > Shane Wakelin speaks with CTV about his retirement CTV > Ryan Lonie speaks with CTV about his retirementCollingwood players Shane Wakelin and Ryan Lonie have decided season 2008 was their last at the elite level.
Both players informed senior coach Mick Malthouse of their decisions this week.
Wakelin, who turned 34 in August, came to Collingwood via the 49th pick in the 2000 draft after 94 games for St Kilda in seven seasons, and established himself as a fine key defender for the Magpies.
He twice finished top five in the Copeland Trophy voting, including a fourth-placing in the grand final year of 2002. He played in both the 2002 and 2003 grand finals.
Wakelin was an important member of the Collingwood side right until the end, having played 20 games in 2008 and taken on and beaten many of the competition’s premier key forwards.
He played the last of his 158 games in black and white on Saturday night in the semi final loss to his former club, and will now decide which direction to focus on in life.
“I’ll miss being around the change rooms and the week-to-week routine more than anything,” Wakelin told CTV.
“But I think that hour before the game, the excitement before the game, I will probably miss that the most. The build-up, the mental preparation, the excitement and the train trip into the game. I used to really enjoy that.
“Perseverance is probably the single biggest factor in my career. I have had a lot of adversity, more so than your average 250-game player. I have had a lot of hiccups along the way, my career has stalled on many occasions.
“The thing I will look back on is my ability to persevere and to really respond to adversity in some pretty tough times.
“I have always planned for my future. I have done a hell of a lot of study and I have been planning for my retirement for the last two years. I will sit down with my wife and make a decision on which way I want to go.”
Lonie, meanwhile, has called an end to his career at just 25 years of age, having played 123 games in eight seasons.
After being drafted from the Dandenong Stingrays with the 34th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Lonie quickly emerged as one of the most skilful young running players in the competition. Like Wakelin he played in the 2002 and 2003 grand finals, and cracked the 100-game milestone in just his sixth season in the system.
Lonie was cut down by injuries late in his career, and mainly due to osteitis pubis managed just five AFL matches in 2007 and 2008.
"I’ve been thinking about it for a little while. I dislocated my shoulder in the middle of the year, and obviously had a bit of time to think about it from there, and just decided that I’ve had enough of playing,” Lonie said.
“I thought it was the right time to move on and do something else with my life.
"I’ve played here for eight years, and had a great time while I’ve been here, but I just thought, at 25 you’re sort of at the crossroads. If you’re not playing regular senior footy for different reasons, whether it’s form or injuries, the decision’s got to be made.
“I played in two grand finals at an early age, I probably thought that type of experience would come a bit more regularly, but as Mick (Malthouse) says, they don’t, and true to form, they haven’t.
“So obviously the grand finals, and the guys that I’ve met throughout the eight years, they’re probably the two things that stand out the most."
