‘I am sorry': Parting message to beloved Blue
Docherty announced his retirement on Tuesday morning, drawing a curtain on one of footy's most motivating careers.
He will play his 184th and final game this Thursday against Hawthorn at the MCG.
Docherty moved from Brisbane to Carlton ahead of the 2014 season just days before the Blues drafted their now dual Brownlow Medal champion out of Western Australia.
They arrived at Princes Park together and would eventually captain the club together in 2021.
In a brilliant retirement speech in front of family, friends and teammates, Docherty detailed a decade-long dream he and Cripps shared.
He apologised for calling time prematurely but hoped Cripps would carry on to live out their dream of premiership success.
'I have already made the big fella cry today but to 'Crip', a bit more prepared this time, mate,' Docherty said.
'Thanks, mate, again. We've had a solid dream together for the last 10 to 12 years about where we wanted to take this footy club.
'I am sorry we don't get that moment we've dreamed of, it's something I have chased with you and wanted to have with you for my whole time I've been at the club.
'Hopefully you get what you deserved and you get the success you deserve across your career, mate.
'Thanks for guidance, friendship, love, support, all of that across my career, mate, I've needed it more than you'll ever know.'
Docherty said three games have stood out across his career.
The milestone game of his good mate Kade Simpson, who will coach Hawthorn's back six in Docherty's last game, his first game back from his cancer battle and the final win over Melbourne in 2023.
'Three games that stick out to me the most,' he said.
'Simmo's 250th, the emotion playing in that, he was my idol, still was when he was here and still is now, to be honest.
'Playing his milestone moment, having a big win, my return game from cancer and kicking the goal with everything behind that and what that meant to other people.
'Then the semi-final win over Melbourne, three games, to be honest most of the other memories … the fun of being in a footy club, the people you meet, the highs and lows of it all – it's all just a big part of footy I have loved.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Ben Stokes – England's colossus who is four players in one
It was when Ben Stokes suffered his second serious hamstring injury of the year in New Zealand last winter that he once again demonstrated his extraordinary fighting qualities in adversity. 'Something else to overcome? Go on then,' posted Stokes on X after breaking down while bowling during the third Test in Hamilton. Advertisement 'I've got so much more left in the tank and so much more blood, sweat and tears to go through for my team and this shirt,' he continued. 'There's a reason I have a phoenix permanently on my body.' How that phoenix has risen this summer from the ashes of yet another setback, and how England's chances of winning the Ashes this winter are enhanced if their captain is fit enough to play a full all-round role in Australia. On Saturday, Manchester's Old Trafford rose again to this colossus of a cricketer on the fourth day of the fourth Test against India when Stokes added his first century in two years to his first five-wicket haul in eight years (before India held up England's charge towards a convincing and series-clinching victory). It is a measure of his achievement that only three Englishmen had previously done the double of a century and five-wicket haul in the same Test – Tony Greig, Ian Botham (five times) and, last year, Gus Atkinson against Sri Lanka at Lord's. Stokes is also only the fifth captain of any team to achieve the landmark and the first for 42 years, after Denis Atkinson of West Indies in 1955, Garfield Sobers of West Indies in 1966, Mushtaq Mohammad of Pakistan in 1977 and Imran Khan, also of Pakistan, in 1983. Those figures, and the rarity of such dominant performances with both bat and ball, showed just how important one of the true all-round greats still is, at age 34, to England. Stokes took himself out of the attack on Saturday when India began their second innings 311 runs behind England's huge score of 669 because he was still feeling the twinge that forced him to temporarily retire hurt, supposedly with cramp, while batting on the third day. And England were a far less potent force with the ball without a captain who has been reborn as a frontline fast bowler this summer, India taking the game into a final day and staying alive in the series by moving to 174 for two after losing those two wickets in the first over. England can only hope and pray it does not prove serious again, because Stokes has been their best bowler throughout four Tests in this series, taking 16 wickets so far and bowling 129 overs before today of genuine pace and venom at close to 90mph. He is truly back to his best with the ball, just seven months after suffering the latest and most serious of the knee and hamstring injuries that threatened to curtail his bowling involvement and damage the all-important balance of the England side. Stokes was having none of that, working relentlessly over the winter after surgery with England strength and conditioning coach Peter Sim and physio Ben Davies and returning at the start of this summer in the best shape of his life. Advertisement During those long days on the sidelines, Stokes watched footage of England's victory against South Africa at Cape Town early in 2020, when he bowled 23.4 overs in the second innings and won the game with a late three-wicket burst. That was how he wanted to bowl again, with his front leg fully braced in delivering the ball to give him the pace and effectiveness he lost, particularly when he had a chronic left knee problem during the 2023 Ashes that eventually led to yet more surgery. And that is how Stokes has been bowling this summer — and on Saturday he was back to his fluent best with the bat too, hitting three sixes in his 141 and becoming only the third all-rounder after Sobers and South Africa's Jacques Kallis to make more than 7,000 runs and take more than 200 wickets in Test cricket. He is truly two players in one. Or three, if you include the leadership that has given him the highest winning percentage of any England captain who has led the side in more than 30 Tests. Call it four if you add the fielding that has seen him safely pouch 113 catches… That's how valuable Stokes is. He has known so much of that adversity along the way. From being sent home from an England Lions (the B team) tour of Australia in 2013 for disciplinary reasons when coach Andy Flower told him, 'You don't want to be an England player.' To which Stokes replied: 'Yes, I do. I'll show you.' There was more trouble along the way before Stokes did indeed show England his true worth, notably when he became involved in a fight outside a bar in 2017 and ended up in court before being found not guilty of affray. And there was a reminder of the personal adversity he has suffered when he looked to the heavens after reaching his hundred at Old Trafford and made his crooked finger gesture in honour of his father Ged, who died through brain cancer, aged 65, five years ago. The gesture is because Stokes Senior once had a finger amputated so he could continue his career as a rugby player and there is plenty of that toughness in his son, now it has been channelled so positively and productively into winning Tests for England. England's ability to win this fourth Test, and so the series with one match to play — with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul standing firm against everything their attack, minus Stokes, could throw at them on Saturday — could well come down to whether Stokes can bowl on its final day. And their chances of upsetting the odds and winning in Australia this winter, for the first time since 2011, could well be dependent on the captain's ability to bat and bowl at the very height of his powers. Advertisement 'We're hoping he will be able to bowl on the last day,' said England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick afterwards. 'He's a bit stiff and sore after having a lot of bowling over the last few weeks, and he was cramping up a bit when he batted. He's had a huge workload. Of course, you have that little bit of worry and his absence has created a hole, but we'll see how he goes tomorrow. Fingers crossed, it will all be OK.' 'Something else to overcome? Go on then…' — as Stokes would undoubtedly say. For more cricket, follow Global Sports on The Athletic app via the Discover tab
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Clarkson defends strategy after another North hiding
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has defended the club's gamble on trading away a first-round draft pick as the Kangaroos sit in danger of finishing bottom-two for a sixth-straight season. With four games remaining, North (4-1-14) are 17th after suffering the biggest loss by any team this season - a 101-point demolition by Geelong on Saturday night. The Cats led by 106 points at three-quarter-time, but North were at least able to not let the margin veer out into record-breaking territory in the final term. Despite being destined for another lowly finish, the Kangaroos won't get the rewards of a top draft pick like normal. On draft night last year, the Kangaroos completed a swap with Richmond to take the final pick of the first round, using it to select versatile tall Matt Whitlock to bolster their key position stocks. In doing so, North gave Richmond access to their first-round draft selection this year, which is currently pick two behind only West Coast. "We rated young Whitlock really, really highly, and so our list management team made a made a call on that last year," Clarkson said when asked if it was regrettable to not have a high draft pick this year. "It's just horses for courses. There's not a club in the competition that get it right all the time. "Everyone would applaud our list management team for getting (star forward) Nick Larkey ... he's pick (73), so where did he come from? "There's always hits and misses. But that's the game that you play. You roll the dice, and we'll see where that rolls with us." Since four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Clarkson took over at Arden St, North have won just 10 games, losing 44 and drawing one. It was always going to be a slow rise, but fans are becoming restless. Clarkson has urged the North faithful to stay the course as they rebuild their list. "We'll continue to give exposure to to our players," he said. "What we don't want to get caught up in is the hysteria around results. "We know where we are as a footy club and right at the minute, our depth has been tested, particularly in our back end, where a lot of our more senior guys are out injured." North should regain Larkey (knee) for next week's winnable game against St Kilda.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tyrann Mathieu joins 'The Insiders' after announcing his retirement from the league
New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu joins 'The Insiders' after announcing his retirement from the league.
