Essendon ruck Andrew Phillips is the archetypal AFL journeyman.
After 12 seasons at AFL level, Phillips announced to teammates on Tuesday morning that this campaign would be his last at the professional level, opting to step away and focus on life with his young family.
Speaking to Dwayne’s World on SEN, Phillips said the decision was one he’d mulled over for quite some time.
“It is a big decision, but it’s been coming for a little while now. 13 years is a long time to spend in footy, and with a little family now I’ve always felt the pull to head back to Tassie where I call home, I’ve always liked the idea of getting back there,” Phillips said.
“At certain times throughout my career, it’s almost become an option outside of my control, but this time I get to control it and it’d be nice to get back home.”
Phillips, who began his AFL journey on GWS’ inaugural list as a rookie, has overcome several injury setbacks to forge out a long career, set to appear in his 80th game this weekend against the Kangaroos.
Despite sustaining consistent performance and playing a career-high 17 games in the 2023 season to date, Phillips says the workload on both mind and body attributed to his decision.
“The body’s hanging in there really well to string games together this year better than I have in previous years, so from that point of view it’s been really positive,” Phillips said.
“(The mind and body) go hand in hand, mentally it’s been pretty gruelling and especially towards the end of the season, you’re pretty battered and sore.
“For 13 years I’ve fronted up and gotten out on the track, and it does start to wear a little bit thin. The opportunity for post-footy (life) has become more and more appealing.”
After a stint with Carlton, joining the Bombers ahead of the 2020 season allowed Phillips more opportunities at senior level, playing nearly half of his career games total over this four-season stretch.
Phillips believes his late career bloom has stemmed from a clean run of continuity, as well as better management of his training loads.
“As a ruck and as a tall, you do get a few more years to develop and everyone understands that. It did take me a while, and injuries interrupted to make that continuity pretty difficult, but it’s been nice to get that now,” Phillips said.
“It’s just been the balancing act around my training loads, knowing what works best for me and finally getting to a point where I’ve been able to get that continuity out on the track through pre-season which has enabled me to get through full seasons.
“As I’ve gotten older, (the club) has been a lot better with not pushing me as much and understanding my needs to get up and be physically fit, which isn’t necessarily doing every session to a maximum all the time.”
Phillips has been a key for the Bombers’ tandem approach to their ruck stocks this season, pairing successfully with both Sam Draper and Nick Bryan across different stages of the year.
Instilling his experience among his younger teammates and playing career-best footy, lining up with dual rucks has been a win for Phillips throughout his time at the Dons.
“I’m obviously a big advocate for (two rucks), it would’ve benefitted me greatly throughout most of my career. I think Sam, Bryza (Bryan) and I have worked really well together and we complement each other, allowing us to play our best football,” Phillips said.
“You can get away with one, but I find with the workload and how tough it is, having a second ruck to chop you out not just gets you through a full season better, but it allows you to have a better impact when you’re out on the ground.”
Looking ahead to a critical final three home-and-away games of the Bombers’ season, Phillips remains solid on his side’s ability to return to their best.
“The boys should be confident and I think a lot of us are. We’ve shown throughout the year what our best looks like, and our best can stack up against the best. If we can bring that to the next couple of weeks, it’s going to make things very interesting,” Phillips said.
