Carlton veteran Eddie Betts has announced his retirement after a stellar career spanning 17 seasons and two of the AFL's biggest clubs.
Having played 349 games and kicked 638 goals, Betts will sign off this weekend after his 350th match. He leaves the game having won his club's goal-kicking award in six separate seasons.
After reports surfaced over the weekend that the 34-year-old was set to call it quits, Betts confirmed the news in a lengthy Instagram post.
"Thanks for sticking by me through the highs and lows," he wrote.
"I hope at some point in my career I was able to put a smile on your face. If I did, I'm happy and my work is done here.
"Thank you to the [Carlton Football Club] and the [Adelaide Football Club], fans, especially staff, coaches and players and their families and all fans of our game.
"To all the people who played a part in my career, it could never be done on my own.
"My family, back home for teaching and raising me that it's always important to look out for others and be selfless in the way we go about things. We will only get better if we look after each other. You got me here.
"To Anna [and] the kids. Words can't really explain the love and inspiration I get from you all.
"Looking forward to seeing you all with me on the next ride."
Betts was incredibly overlooked in the national draft before being picked up by Carlton in the 2004 pre-season draft.
The lively forward increased his goals tally in each of his first seven seasons with the Blues before accepting a four-year deal as a free-agent to join Adelaide at the end of 2013.
Betts' game skyrocketed to another level in his native state, where he took out the club's goal-kicking award in his first four seasons while also being named to the All-Australian team three times.
As his career progressed, Betts became known for his ability to nail freakish goals from the boundary line, and he won the AFL's Goal of the Year award on four separate occasions (2006, 2015, 2016 and 2019), the most by any player in league history.
After a successful 132-game stint with the Crows, where he played in a losing grand final side, Betts was able to secure a fairytale return to Carlton at the end of 2019.
While the Blues were unable to send their goal-kicking legend off with a finals berth in his last two seasons, Betts still managed to hit the scoreboard, kicking 38 goals in 33 matches.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/eddie-betts-announces-afl-retirement-after-stellar-career/977a896f-d259-4e77-8338-c895f0591f54
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