Retired St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt has received a kind word of reassurance from an unlikely source before he brought his decorated AFL career to a close.
Having retired himself on Friday night, Western Bulldogs great Bob Murphy reached out to Riewoldt.
"He sent me a message on Saturday morning saying 'Mate, the sun came up and life is actually OK on this side ... good luck for Sunday'," Riewoldt told reporters after his 336-game career ended on Sunday with a 41-point loss to Richmond.
"To know that he woke up the next day feeling OK was a comforting thought."
Riewoldt had 15 touches and kicked a goal in his final AFL appearance.
He was warmly applauded by the 69,104 fans in attendance as he was chaired off the MCG by teammate Josh Bruce and cousin Jack Riewoldt.
The six-time best-and-fairest winner has maintained a high level of performance in his 17th AFL season.
He admitted he wrestled with the decision to retire even after he'd made the announcement, but is excited about the future.
"I'm comfortable with it, but absolutely in my own private time I've had moments," he said.
"Even at various stages last week running around at Etihad for my last home game there were probably five or six times where I thought 'Gee I could do this for another two years'.
"Then something would happen two minutes later and I'd think 'Nah I'm done'.
"I think you fight it and have that wrestle internally but it is absolutely the right time for me to finish.
"I'm really excited about what's next.
"I don't think it would be the right time if I wasn't having those feelings; I'm really comfortable with it."
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