Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy has lifted the lid on veteran teammate David Mundy’s typically selfless retirement speech, which he says went for “no longer than 40 seconds”.
The Dockers games-record holder told the playing group and coaching staff on Monday of his decision to call time at season’s end, but quickly changed to focus away from himself and towards the crunch clash against Western Bulldogs on Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
“In front of the boys, it was honestly I don’t think longer than 40 seconds,” Darcy told the Back Chat podcast.
“I’ve sat through a couple and they go for 10-15 minutes and have the works, tears and he was in and out. He goes ‘we’ve got bigger fish to fry’ and just sat down.
“He said ‘thanks to the physios and all the support staff, you mean so much to me, and to the boys, this is my last season’ and then a little bit more.
“Then he said ‘I don’t want to make it about me, we’ve got bigger fish to fry’ and sat down. He hates talking about himself.
“Even during the presser after, reporters were asking him what he wanted to be remembered as and he said ‘an honest battler’.”
Darcy said he regarded the 37-year-old, who’s played 371 games and counting during his 19-season career, as “right up there” in the best ever Docker conversation, highlighting his remarkable longevity.
“He’d have to be up there,” Darcy said.
“His sustainability… he had his best year in the Brownlow last year. That’s just unheard of, absurd.
“Even when you get to that age, surely you pull the 300/350 (game) card but he’s still doing the time trial with us during the pre-season.”
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir urged his players to use Mundy’s retirement as motivation to bounce back from a three-game winless run heading into the business end of the season, starting with the Bulldogs on Saturday.
The Dockers have slipped from inside the top-four to sixth after losses to Sydney and Melbourne in between a thrilling draw with Richmond.
“It’s got to be front of mind for our players,” Longmuir said.
“He is close to the end, and we need to make sure we put all of our own personal issues and indifferences to one side and see if we can help him achieve what he wants to achieve in his last handful of games.
“Hopefully our players have reflected on that and understand the significance of his decision and can glean some motivation out of it.
“We need to make sure we send him out the right way.”
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