TWO-TIME premiership Tiger Marlion Pickett will retire at the end of the season, joining an expected long list of departures as Richmond usher in an era of change.
Pickett, 32, will play his 91st and final AFL game against former mentor Damien Hardwick's Gold Coast at the MCG on Saturday.
A mid-season mature-aged draftee from Western Australia, Pickett became the first VFL/AFL player in 67 years to debut in a Grand Final and the first since 1926 to win a flag as Richmond belted Greater Western Sydney by 89 points in the 2019 decider. He was also part of the club's flag win in 2020.
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Then a 27-year-old father of four who did jail time as a teenager, Pickett thought his shot at the AFL would never come.
"It's been a good journey ... I did not even think I was ever going to get drafted,” he said.
"My past and the way I grew up is different to everyone else's and it was not easy to get drafted. I got overlooked for six or seven years, and 2019 I was about to quit all my dreams.
"I had some people in my corner, and they told me to stick at it ... they told me just to give it another year.
"The sacrifices that we made to come across ... it was all worth it."
Coach Adem Yze paid tribute to Pickett.
"With his story and what he's been able to provide our footy club, he just deserves to be sent off the right way," Yze said.
"For him to be able to walk out with his kids for one last time will be something that we'll be really proud of."
Pickett made headlines for the wrong reasons in June last year when he was arrested in Perth and charged with 12 burglary offences.
Earlier this month, his lawyer entered pleas of not guilty to all charges on his behalf. His matter will next be heard Perth District Court on October 11.
Saturday should be an emotional day at the MCG for the Tiger Army, with retired champions Dustin Martin and Dylan Grimes to be celebrated as well, while journeyman ruckman Sam Naismith has also called time after his fourth ACL tear.
Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli, Liam Baker and Jack Graham could also be playing their final game for Richmond, with the quartet linked to off-season moves elsewhere.
As reported on Gettable, Bolton has indicated he would be interested in a trade back to Western Australia if a deal could be struck, despite being contracted until the end of 2029.
"Those discussions will happen at the end of the year, and there hasn't been a formal request for a trade," Yze said.
"We understand that he's got some family and things that are happening outside of footy, that there could be that option, but those sort of things won't happen until the end of the year.
"Until anything changes, we expect them (Bolton and Rioli) to be required players."
Yze said he planned to embrace an "emotional week", parking the focus on players' futures until after the game.
"We want to harness that emotion and obviously let it all out in that last game," he said.
"Post that, next week, in their exit interviews ... we'll have a function that we can get together and if any of those things start to come out and players make those announcements, we'll be able to send them off the right way.
"But right now, they're Richmond players and terrific Richmond men."
