Collingwood veterans Shane Wakelin and Ryan Lonie have announced their retirement from AFL football.
Both players informed senior coach Mick Malthouse of their decisions this week.
Wakelin, who turned 34 in August, played the last of his 158 games in black and white on Saturday night in the semi final loss to St Kilda.
"I’ll miss being around the change rooms and the week-to-week routine more than anything," Wakelin told CTV.
"But I think that hour before the game, the excitement before the game, I will probably miss that the most."
"The build-up, the mental preparation, the excitement and the train trip into the game - I used to really enjoy that."
"I have always planned for my future. I have done a hell of a lot of study and I have been planning for my retirement for the last two years."
"I will sit down with my wife and make a decision on which way I want to go."
Wakelin came to Collingwood with pick 49 in the 2000 draft after 94 games for St Kilda in seven seasons and established himself as a fine key defender for the Magpies.
He twice finished top five in the Copeland Trophy voting, including a fourth-placing in the grand final year of 2002. He played in both the 2002 and 2003 grand finals.
Lonie has called an end to his career at just 25 years of age after 123 games in eight seasons.
Drafted from the Dandenong Stingrays in the 2000 draft, Lonie played in the 2002 and 2003 grand finals and cracked the 100-game milestone in just his sixth season in the system.
Lonie was cut down by injuries late in his career and managed just five AFL matches in 2007 and 2008.
"I’ve been thinking about it for a little while," Lonie said.
"I dislocated my shoulder in the middle of the year, and obviously had a bit of time to think about it from there, and just decided that I’ve had enough of playing."
"I thought it was the right time to move on and do something else with my life."