Neck injury forces Monty out

WESTERN Bulldogs veteran Brett Montgomery has announced his retirement, effective immediately, from the AFL on medical advice.

Montgomery has a bulging disc in his neck, which could further affect him if he continued to play on. Although the injury has ended his playing career, specialists have confirmed that it will take six to 18 months to recover.

The rising 34-year-old – his birthday is on June 1 – said it was a "shock" to receive the news from the medicos last Thursday about his neck, which prompted an earlier than expected exit from the game.

Montgomery decided his playing future last weekend, adding the medical consultation made the decision "pretty clear-cut". Not being able to train properly, while enduring day-to-day discomfort, also led to the retirement.

"Over the last three or four weeks, I had a bit of a feeling (that I would have to retire) … the way it was going. It was something more than what we thought, because I seemed to be getting worse rather than better and I was doing very little," Montgomery said.

"I started to get a little bit worried from something that started out as something simple as a collarbone injury and that's what we thought at the time."

Montgomery said he could recall "five or six" incidents that led to the injury, although he couldn't specifically pinpoint one.

"It's a combination of a few things and I couldn't put it down to one incident – it'd just be too difficult," Montgomery said.

"Certainly a lot of contact over an extended period hasn't helped, but in saying that you wouldn't want to go about it any other way as well."

Drafted by the Bulldogs in 1996, Montgomery made his AFL debut in 1997. He played 60 matches with the club, before being surprisingly traded to Port Adelaide at the end of 1999. He then added another 126 matches for the Power.

He won Port Adelaide's best-and-fairest in 2000, was named All-Australian in 2002 and represented Australia in 2002.

At the end of 2005, Montgomery was drafted back to the Bulldogs after being delisted by the Power. He added another 18 matches.

Montgomery said he wants to remain in football and will explore coaching options. He also has a sports science degree.

"Hopefully it won't be the end for me in footy. That would be a real shame for me personally," Montgomery said.

"I'm very interested and I think footy all of the time as a player and beyond that – I've got a keen footy mind."

Montgomery said he was "super proud" of his career. He added it was a "no-brainer" that being a member of the 2004 Port Adelaide premiership was the highlight.

"It's been a long 12 years, a pretty fulfilling 12 years, but that wasn't just a defining footy moment – that was life-changing. It was really that big," Montgomery said.

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said he was disappointed to lose a professional such as Montgomery.

"I think the main thing is his health, but I think it's a bigger disappointment for Brett, because he wanted to finish on a high note … but certainly from a coaching perspective … the way he played footy was a real bonus for us," Eade said.

"The way he played footy was a real bonus to us and he added a lot to us last year.

"I think we've missed him a bit this year to be honest, so certainly going forward we're going to miss him."