FORMER Essendon captain James Hird's sparkling AFL career came to a close with not one, but two farewells in the final rounds of the home-and-away season. In round 22, enigmatic St Kilda forward Fraser Gehrig waited until the game was underway before signalling it would be his last hurrah.
He said afterwards he was happy to end his 255-game career "on a reasonable playing level" at a time of his choosing.
However, not everyone on an AFL list in 2007 had that luxury. After winning Carlton's bestand- fairest award in 2004, David Teague spent this year playing with the Blues' Vflaffiliate the Northern Bullants.
Soon after Carlton's season ended he was one of five players delisted, with Dylan McLaren, Anthony Raso, Craig Flint and rookie Ross Young all shown the door.
A broken wrist midway through the year hurt Teague's chances of earning senior selection and the 26-year-old's AFL career could be over, unless he's thrown a lifeline by another club.
"I'll definitely throw my name in the draft," he told The Sunday Age. "It's going to be tough with such an emphasis on youth at lots of clubs, but I still think I'm good enough to play at this level."
Teague has spoken with his manager about approaching other clubs and said he's not "throwing in the towel" before he's ready.
"My form this year wasn't too bad, so I'm hoping there's a club out there that might give me a chance," he said.
Western Bulldogs rookie-listed player Marty Pask is another looking for a new home after he was cut from the Bulldogs list last week.
Pask, 22, played eight games with the Brisbane Lions before he was picked up by the Bulldogs at the end of last season.
A spokesman for his management company, Flying Start, said Pask was holidaying overseas and thinking about his next move.
Pask, the partner of Australian swimmer Leisel Jones, wants to continue his AFL career and, like Teague, hopes another club will give him a chance.
The Bulldogs also delisted Cameron Faulkner, Travis Baird, Tim Walsh, Damian McCormack and Michael West.
Faulkner was drafted in 2002, but played only 17 games in five years. The pacy small forward/ midfielder had a shoulder injury last year, but worked himself back into the senior team late in the year.
The 23-year-old has continued showing good form with Werribee this year and is another player who could find another club.
Melbourne, too, has moved quickly to reshape its playing list by delisting Daniel Ward, Simon Godfrey, Heath Neville, Shane Neaves and Daniel Haye
WHO YOU WON'T SEE AT YOUR CLUB NEXT SEASON
Confirmed retirements and delistings so far
ADELAIDE
Mark Ricciuto (retired)
BRISBANE LIONS
Chris Scott (retired)
Chris Johnson (retired)
Michael Voss (retired)
CARLTON
Anthony Koutoufides (retired)
Matthew Lappin (retired)
David Teague (delisted)
Dylan McLaren (delisted)
Anthony Raso (delisted)
Craig Flint (delisted)
Ross Young (delisted)
ESSENDON
James Hird (retired)
FREMANTLE
Shane Parker (retired)
Troy Cook (retired)
HAWTHORN
Richie Vandenberg (retiring)
KANGAROOS
Glenn Archer (retiring)
MELBOURNE
Nathan Brown (retired)
Clint Bizzell (retired)
Byron Pickett (retired)
Daniel Ward (delisted)
Simon Godfrey (delisted)
Heath Neville (delisted)
Shane Neaves (delisted)
Daniel Hayes (delisted)
PORT ADELAIDE
Darryl Wakelin (retiring)
Josh Mahoney (retiring)
RICHMOND
Darren Gaspar (retired)
Ray Hall (retired)
Trent Knobel (retired)
Kent Kingsley (retired)
ST KILDA
Fraser Gehrig (retired)
Andrew Thompson (retired)
W BULLDOGS
Luke Darcy (retired)
Brett Montgomery (retired)
Matthew Robbins (retired)
Cameron Faulkner (delisted)
Travis Baird (delisted)
Tim Walsh (delisted)
Damian McCormack (delisted)
Marty Pask (delisted)
Michael West (delisted)
COLLINGWOOD, GEELONG, SYDNEY and WEST COAST are yet to announce anyone is definitely leaving. The deadline for delisting players is October 31.
