Andrew Swallow has paid tribute to the club’s departing champions, acknowledging the “great legacy they are going to leave for the club”.
Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo donned the royal blue and white for the final time on Saturday night, before an emotional farewell at Adelaide Oval.
“'Boomer' and 'Drewy' are the two highest games played for the club. 'Spud' is a heart and soul player; the boys just love having him around. 'Dal' has been unbelievable coming in and giving us some great insight from another club, leadership and composure, and really stood up in finals,” Swallow said.
“It’s a sad day, but we’ll go and sit and have a couple of beers tonight and reflect on their amazing careers and what a great legacy they are going to leave for the club.”
The departing stars were given a standing ovation by the Adelaide crowd and players, embracing with their teammates for one final time as they left the field.
Swallow said the players would be sorely missed, but admitted the club must move forward.
“It’s a sad day, but we look to a new era now and get a bit of youth in the team,” he said.
“It’s going to change things pretty dramatically going forward.
“I think once we get past the initial sadness of losing those guys, there’ll be a bit of excitement. We’ll load up with another group of young kids. They always bring a new level of energy and enthusiasm.”
While acknowledging the club needed a “reset”, Swallow said the Roos boasted some outstanding talent in the prime of their careers.
“We’ve still got a pretty strong core, so even though we’ll lose those guys, the core of our team is pretty solid," he added.
“Todd Goldstein’s 27 or 28, Jack (Ziebell) and Ben Cunnington inside, they are 25. Big Benny Brown’s only a young fella … we’ve got a lot of the key positions taken. It’s just about adding a couple of other players and I think we can do that.
“One of the positives about having so many injures this year was that we got to blood a couple of guys who probably wouldn’t have played.”
