FORMER No.1 pick and AFLW favourite Izzy Huntington will retire at the end of the year.
Huntington told her Greater Western Sydney teammates about her decision on Wednesday, bringing an end to a career that featured 60 games for both the Giants and previously the Western Bulldogs across the last decade.
Long renowned as one of the League's best key-position players, featuring both in attack and behind the ball, Huntington's career was also plagued by three separate ACL injuries in a horror six-year span.
Huntington was the AFLW's No.1 draft pick in 2017 to the Western Bulldogs and claimed Rising Star, All-Australian and best and fairest honours at the Whitten Oval in an exceptional 2020 campaign.
But injuries, university and further career opportunities outside of football led to her exploring her options and in 2022 she requested a trade to New South Wales, where she joined the Giants.
After going a remarkable 616 days without games before finally making her Giants debut in 2023, the 27-year-old Huntington decided to bring a close to her career earlier this week and told teammates about her decision on Wednesday.
"It's all a bit bizarre right now," Huntington told AFL.com.au.
"It will certainly take a while to settle in and for me to feel the full suite of emotions that are associated with not playing anymore. Right now, I feel really happy and really content and I'm excited for what's next.
"I'm very grateful for every moment that I've had in football and for my nine years in the AFLW. It's just been such an incredible time and I'm so lucky to have met some incredible people. I've just had such a fantastic time."
Despite dealing with a host of injuries across her career, Huntington has enjoyed arguably her best season physically this year and will finish a campaign where she has played in every single game in this Sunday's clash against Gold Coast.
But the feeling of retiring while in good shape is a satisfying one for Huntington, whose unfortunate injury history had previously led to her contemplating retirement even earlier in her career.
"It's weird," Huntington said.
"My body's actually been the best it's been for years. My knees have finally turned a corner and they've held up fairly well this year. Physically, I'm in the best nick I've been in. I'm hitting PBs in velocity and strength metrics, so it's all a bit weird.
"But, for me, to be able to finish on a high and go out in good condition body-wise and not be limping out of the game is really special. In the past three years, I've had moments where I've flirted with the idea of retirement. But it was definitely more so a product of my body in the past with those thoughts.
"I've had such a fantastic time and I'm really proud I've got back into a good nick and I feel like I'm playing good football. But I'm also happy that I've had such a fantastic experience and have given all I can to the game. I'm just excited for what's next as well and getting into the next chapter of my life."
Huntington has plenty to get to. After finishing a Bachelor of Science degree, where she completed an honours thesis building synthetic kidneys through 3D printings of patients' scans for surgeons to train on, she plans to get into the medical research field now that her football career is over.
Travel, the potential of dipping her toes into some local footy, and a bit of much needed rest are also on the agenda for the universally respected Huntington, who will now depart the game as one of the AFLW's favourite figures.
"It's been unbelievable," Huntington said.
"I never in a million years would have thought I was going to live out this dream. It was obviously not until a few years prior to me getting drafted that I even knew that the AFLW was going to be an option for us.
"I was reflecting today, I'm so grateful for all of the trailblazers and the women that didn't ever get to play the game but put so much into allowing us to play professionally. They stuck their neck out to stand up for what's right and to give us an opportunity.
"I feel incredibly grateful to be a product of that and to come into the game in this era, where I was reaping the rewards of years and years of hard work and courage from those women who were so instrumental in this competition. I never imagined anything would pan out this way.
"It has been hard throughout the journey, with all of the knees and the injuries and my win-loss record certainly wouldn't be very good on paper. But, regardless, it's been such an incredible time and I'll only look back on it with complete happiness, joy and gratitude."