Farren Ray announces retirement

North Melbourne veteran Farren Ray has announced his retirement after 209 AFL games.

Ray played four games with the Kangaroos, following his axing from St Kilda at the end of 2015, after 123 games in seven seasons, including the 2009 and 2010 grand finals.

He played 75 games for the Western Bulldogs before being traded to the Saints at the end of 2008.

“I sat down with ‘Scotty’ [Brad Scott] about three weeks ago and told him that I would be finishing up at the end of the year,” Ray told NMFC.com.au.

“Although my time at North was brief, I cannot thank the club enough for the opportunity it gave me to extend my career.”

Kangaroos List Manager Cam Joyce said that while Ray spent just the one season at Arden Street, he had an enormous impact on the playing group.

“From the moment ‘Faz’ walked into the club, he slipped in seamlessly and added more professionalism and leadership to the group,” Joyce said.

“He has a tremendous team-first attitude and displayed some fantastic qualities that our younger players really took on board.

“It’s our understanding that Faz wants to continue to work in football, perhaps in player welfare, and he would definitely suit such a role.”

Ray was drafted to the Bulldogs with pick No.4 in the 2003 National Draft.