The career of one of the AFL's most colourful and also controversial players over the last 15 years in Sydney ruckman Peter 'Spida' Everitt came to an end following the Swans' loss to the Western Bulldogs in Friday night's semi-final at the MCG.

An emotional Everitt told the Swans players after the game that he would retire after the Bulldogs bounced back from last week's 51-point loss to Hawthorn in the qualifying final to score a comfortable 37-point win.

Everitt joins defender Ben Mathews in retirement on a night when the Swans - appearing in their sixth successive finals series - were exposed as old and slow by the fleet-footed Bulldogs.

The 34-year-old Everitt, who was a controversial figure during his early days at St Kilda before becoming a more settled player in his later years at Hawthorn and then the Swans, ends his career without that elusive premiership but with a total of 291 games to his name.

Everitt spent just two years with the Swans - after playing 180 games with St Kilda and then 72 for the Hawks - but says he now considers himself a Sydney person saying he would remain in the Harbour City despite the end of his playing days.

"I was honoured to come up here (to Sydney) and have a couple of years with the Swans," he said.

"It didn't finish the way we would like but I wouldn't change it for the world and hopefully I can stay involved with the Swans in the future."

Sydney coach Paul Roos paid credit to Everitt, whom he said gave his all for the Swans in his two short years with the club.

"We thanked him for his effort in Sydney and we couldn't have been happier with him," Roos said of Everitt.

"He has been outstanding for our club and for a guy to come here at that age and embrace our footy club the way he did was terrific."

Roos said his side had improved on last season, when it went out in the first week of the finals, but still needed more midfielders if it hoped to bridge the gap on the likes of Geelong, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs.

And he admitted his side cost itself any chance on Friday night through poor kicking for goal and failing to make the most of its early dominance - when it had the better of the first half yet trailed by four points at half-time.

"Coming up against a team you knew was going to bounce back after last week, we had to take our chances," he said.

"We didn't take our chances early to put scoreboard pressure on them and then their belief grew."

"And we also knew that with a six day break compared to their seven day break, we had to maintain a gap on them when we were playing well because we knew they were going to come at us and when they did come at us in that third quarter we just weren't able to run with them."