Melbourne veteran Bernie Vince has announced he will retire at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old has played 229 games for Adelaide and Melbourne in a career spanning 12 years.
Vince is currently recovering from an AC joint injury suffered in the VFL and may not play again this season depending on the finals fortunes of Melbourne and Casey.
General manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said Vince had made a genuine impact in his time at the club.
“When we first discussed bringing him over from Adelaide, we knew parts of what we were getting, a very talented footballer,” Mahoney told Melbourne Media.
“The balance that he brings with his competitiveness is his off-field [traits] and that’s probably the reason why he’s not only been embraced by his teammates, but by all Melbourne fans.”
“He has had a significant impact for our club along this journey, which we started to rebuild back in 2013. His impact is going to last beyond when he retires at the end of the year,” Mahoney said.
Originally drafted from CMS Crows/Woodville-West Torrens by Adelaide with pick 32 in the 2005 AFL Draft, Vince made his AFL debut for the Crows against Collingwood in 2006.
Vince played 129 games for the Crows and won the club champion award – The Malcom Blight Medal in 2009, before crossing to Melbourne at the end of the 2013 season.
Vince doubled his club championship total by claiming the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy in his second year at the Demons.
Vince ends his career as one of six players in the VFL/AFL history to have played 100 games or more with two clubs and won a best and fairest at two clubs. He joins Gary Dempsey, Gary Ablett Jnr, Peter Bell, Chris Judd and Tony McGuinness to have achieved this feat.
