Carlton seasoned Eddie Betts has announced his status aft a stellar vocation spanning 17 seasons and 2 of the AFL's biggest clubs.
Having played 349 games and kicked 638 goals, Betts volition motion disconnected this play aft his 350th match. He leaves the crippled having won his club's goal-kicking grant successful six abstracted seasons.
After reports surfaced implicit the play that the 34-year-old was acceptable to telephone it quits, Betts confirmed the quality successful a lengthy Instagram post.
"Thanks for sticking by maine done the highs and lows," helium wrote.
"I anticipation astatine immoderate constituent successful my vocation I was capable to enactment a grin connected your face. If I did, I'm blessed and my enactment is done here.
"Thank you to the [Carlton Football Club] and the [Adelaide Football Club], fans, particularly staff, coaches and players and their families and each fans of our game.
"To each the radical who played a portion successful my career, it could ne'er beryllium done connected my own.
"My family, backmost location for teaching and raising maine that it's ever important to look retired for others and beryllium selfless successful the mode we spell astir things. We volition lone get amended if we look aft each other. You got maine here.
"To Anna [and] the kids. Words can't truly explicate the emotion and inspiration I get from you all.
"Looking guardant to seeing you each with maine connected the adjacent ride."
Carlton elder manager David Teague paid tribute to Betts successful a statement, noting his interaction some connected and disconnected the tract passim his legendary career.
"Eddie is 1 of the game's astir loved characters and helium leaves down an unthinkable bequest astatine our nine and successful our game," Teague said.
"He has had a important interaction some connected and disconnected the tract passim an unbelievable career, of which I'm honoured to person been a portion of, some arsenic a teammate and a coach.
"To person him impart his acquisition and contented connected to our younger players implicit the past 2 years has been large for our full group.
"Eddie is loved by everyone, whether you're a Carlton idiosyncratic oregon not, that tells you each you request to cognize astir the people this antheral has near connected our game.
"On behalf of everyone astatine the Carlton Football Club, we privation Eddie each the precise best."
Betts was incredibly overlooked successful the nationalist draught earlier being picked up by Carlton successful the 2004 pre-season draft.
The lively guardant accrued his goals tally successful each of his archetypal 7 seasons with the Blues earlier accepting a four-year woody arsenic a free-agent to articulation Adelaide astatine the extremity of 2013.
Betts' crippled skyrocketed to different level successful his autochthonal state, wherever helium took retired the club's goal-kicking grant successful his archetypal 4 seasons portion besides being named to the All-Australian squad 3 times.
As his vocation progressed, Betts became known for his quality to nail freakish goals from the bound line, and helium won the AFL's Goal of the Year grant connected 4 abstracted occasions (2006, 2015, 2016 and 2019), the astir by immoderate subordinate successful league history.
After a palmy 132-game stint with the Crows, wherever helium played successful a losing expansive last side, Betts was capable to unafraid a fairytale instrumentality to Carlton astatine the extremity of 2019.
While the Blues were incapable to nonstop their goal-kicking fable disconnected with a finals berth successful his past 2 seasons, Betts inactive managed to deed the scoreboard, kicking 38 goals successful 33 matches.
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