Having announced his retirement from AFL football on Monday evening due to a degenerative knee injury, Western Bulldogs forward Jack Redpath spent time reflecting on his past six seasons with the Club.
After reaching the difficult decision to retire after just 36 AFL games, Redpath admitted that telling Luke Beveridge was one of the most difficult moments of his football career.
“I’m pretty close with Bevo,” Redpath told westernbulldogs.com.au
“How he’s been with me and how much he’s supported me and backed me since he got here, I’m close with him and we have a really good relationship, so that one hurt.
“To have him say the things that he did, it makes me pretty proud of myself and I’m extremely proud to say that I played for this Club.”
A highly respected member of the playing group and fan favourite, Redpath said that being surrounded by the Club’s people is something he has cherished over the past six years.
“It’s hard to say how much a place like this means to you,” he said.
“The boys know how much they mean to me, that’s always been one of the biggest things for me.
“Just to be here with this group, I’ve got friends that I’ll love forever and that’s probably the hardest bit knowing that I won’t be coming here to work every day with that group.”
After a solid end to the 2018 season, Redpath spoke highly of the Club’s impressive group of youngsters and the group’s aspirations leading into 2019.
“With how many young guys we have in the team, plus a few injuries and everything that happened with Clay – that does affect people, I know it definitely affected me,” Redpath said.
“You see the last few weeks of the year, that was some of our best footy.
“It’s easy for me to understand because I’m here every day and feel that energy and spirit that we have as a group, but we’re definitely in a great spot.”