McPhee, Anthony leave the Dockers
Fremantle veteran Adam McPhee has officially announced his AFL retirement, while the Dockers have parted ways with former Collingwood forward Jack Anthony.
McPhee signed a one-year contract extension with the club after their 2012 campaign, but cited family reasons for his decision to cut short his 223-game career to return to Melbourne.
As reported in The West Australian last week McPhee sold his Cottesloe home in preparation for the move.
Anthony was lured to Fremantle at the end of 2010 on a lucrative three-year deal, and was contracted for next season.
But after booting just three goals over eight games in his first two years at Fremantle, the 24-year-old was recently asked to consider his future.
Fremantle released a statement on Tuesday confirming they had reached an agreement with Anthony “that means the 24-year-old will not have to fulfil the final year of his three-year contract”.
The parting of ways marks a big fall from grace for Anthony, who booted 50 goals for Collingwood in 2009 before falling out of favour.
McPhee, who started his career at Fremantle before spending seven years at Essendon, played a critical role in defence for the Dockers last season.
But the 30-year-old said the time was right to return to Melbourne with his wife Bree and their two children Taj and Cove.
“I knew the difficulties they experienced when I travelled and was frequently away for two or three days at a time,” McPhee said.
“I knew, in the background, that wasn't exactly what Bree and I wanted.
“I felt I had to make the decision to retire and return home, regardless of whether I was fit enough to play one or two more seasons of football or not.”
McPhee plans to take up a position in his father-in-law's defence and security marketing company when he returns to Melbourne and has not ruled out taking on a non-playing role in football in the future.
The 30-year-old said leaving Fremantle when he felt the club was on the verge of success had made the decision incredibly difficult.
'I've been in the system for 12 years, and I had always wanted to play in a premiership," he said.
"I feel the team has really grown over the past 12 months. There's a great deal of talent mixed with experienced players and Ross Lyon appears to be the right man to lead them from this point on. The future for the team looks really bright, however, this has only made my decision harder. But I'll still be watching with passion and pride, hoping the club is successful."
General manager of football operations Chris Bond said the club was disappointed to lose a player of McPhee's calibre and capability.
“Adam’s highly respected and he made a significant contribution to the playing group with his experience, professionalism and preparation, which is elite. We understand the personal reasons for the decision and Adam, Bree and the boys have our full support.”
And the club also revealed that Jack Anthony will not fulfil the final year of his three-year contract.
Bond said that the club was pleased it had been able to reach an agreement that was in the best interests of both Anthony and the club.
