Johnson, 34, played a club record 364 games for the Dogs and said he felt spent after being crunched repeatedly in his final game.
“It’s fair to say I’m done,” he said after the 24-point loss.
“It’s been an up and down year with my body but certainly I probably felt the best I have the last couple of weeks.
“I can walk away knowing I’ve given everything I possibly could with my body. I was lucky enough to play so many games for this great club.”
The outgoing captain was chaired off through a guard of honour from players from both clubs, and he echoed coach Rodney Eade's belief that the team could take the next step .
"I step away now and there will be some changes, as there are in the footy world at the end of the season, but the group that takes this club forward is an extremely strong group and their belief will never die,” Johnson said.
Eade said he was confident the club remained in a “good window” of opportunity and would be bolstered by off-season recruiting.
Johnson said he was proud of his teammates and believed they would come back from their third straight preliminary final loss.
“The guys will certainly fight it through. They’ll get back over the summer months and continue to fight and strive and be the best players they can be,” he said.
“They’re extremely self motivated. They get themselves up every single week.”
Johnson said he had watched the club go from strength to strength after joining the Dogs at the end of 1993.
“It’s changed a lot since I started but we’ve been able to change with the nature of the game as well and really grow.
“When Rocket (Eade) turned up it could have gone either way and with his determination and drive, and with that of [President] David [Smorgon] and Cam (CEO Campbell Rose), we’ve been able to turn into one of the strongest clubs in the league at the moment.”
