Robbie Gray retires with some embarrassment at being hailed as Port Adelaide's greatest AFL player.
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The four-time All Australian and triple club champion will play his last AFL game on Saturday night against Adelaide.
Port coach Ken Hinkley has no doubt the brilliant game-breaker is the club's greatest player in the AFL era.
But Gray baulks at such talk.
"You know how much I love speaking about myself," the notoriously publicity-shy Gray told reporters on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old will finish his decorated career as second on the club's all-time goalkicking list behind Warren Tredrea and having played the fourth-most AFL games for the Power - he has 365 goals from 270 games.
"It (retirement) is probably something that has been on my mind for a fair while, to be honest," Gray said.
"You get to this sort of age and the issues I have had physically with my body, I knew it was the right time - as hard as it is to make the call and admit to yourself that it is the time.
"This year has been a struggle ... after I weighed everything up, I just felt like this was the right call for me personally and the footy club as well."
Melbourne-born Gray was the 55th selection at the 2006 national draft.
"I didn't expect to get drafted," he said.
"Coming over, I didn't have any huge expectations.
"To be here now after all this time is pretty crazy to think about."
Coach Hinkley said last week Gray is "the greatest player at our football club in the AFL era" and on Tuesday stuck by that assessment.
"With great champions, you know the person is more special than the footballer," Hinkley told reporters.
"And that is remarkable when you watch him (Gray) play football.
"He is the complete package. He is the absolute best of the best when it comes to playing the game.
"But he's equally far up that list of great people ... that is why this moment is sad in some ways but such a celebration in other ways.
"We will all reflect back at some point and go 'gee, I coached Robbie Gray' - Robbie Gray should have been coaching me.
"He is such a special person."
Gray's last game will be against Port's arch rival Adelaide - in games between the bitter foes, he has won the medal for best-afield a record five times.
"Clearly they are always great games to play in," Gray said.
"So to play in one more, and for that to be the last, the way it just happened to work out, I certainly look forward to playing this Saturday night."
Australian Associated Press
