ST KILDA defender Dougal Howard will retire from the AFL after a farewell game against Gold Coast on Thursday night.
Howard will play his 100th game for the Saints against the Suns at Marvel Stadium, having also played 45 games for Port Adelaide earlier in his career.
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Drafted by the Power with pick No.56 in 2014, Howard spent five seasons at Port before making the move to St Kilda in 2019.
He played at least 18 games in each of his first four seasons at the club and finished third in the club's best and fairest in 2020.
He has played just nine games in the past two seasons due to injury.
"I was a bit emotional, to be honest, when I spoke to the boys," Howard said.
"I've absolutely loved my time at St Kilda. I came to Melbourne and the club as a 23-year-old, so it's been such a big part of my life and my family's life.
"To have played most of my career here and seen the growth of the club over that time has been really special.
"This year has been a frustrating one. I've struggled a bit to get my body right and haven't been able to get out there as consistently as I would've liked, but I know now is the right time to finish up my career at the Saints."
Taken just 11 selections later in the 2014 draft, fellow two-club Saint Dan Butler is unsure whether his AFL career will continue into 2027 as the small forward comes out of contract after playing just nine games so far this season and six last year.
Butler played 45 games at Richmond, including the 2017 premiership, before crossing to St Kilda at the end of 2019.
While he has added another 114 games since arriving at Moorabbin, the 30-year-old has been hindered by injury recently and is unsure if he will be offered another contract.
"I'm still waiting to see. I do want to keep going, but I haven't played a lot of footy this year, my body has let me down a little bit," Butler said on Wednesday.
"So I'm still trying to find my best footy and obviously getting back on the park in the AFL will help that.”