West Coast stalwart Ashley McIntosh was deservedly shouldered off AAMI Stadium on Saturday after his 242nd and last AFL match.

Young team-mates David Haynes and Darren Glass, both only 22, did the honours for the versatile, left-footed warrior who closed his celebrated 13-season career with the Eagles just six weeks short of his 32nd birthday.

Premierships in 1992 and 1994, the club’s best-and-fairest award and All-Australian selection in 1998 and the respect of his peers, as well as Australian football’s nationwide audience, ensure McIntosh will always be hailed as a very special Eagle.

Playing in a losing elimination final against Adelaide – and away from Subiaco Oval – was not the ‘old’ champ’s preferred swansong, but he was gracious to the end and realistic that his time had come because of chronic knee problems.

“It’s disappointing to lose but the Crows were far too good and we wish them well in the finals,” he said.

“On a personal note, unless we won the grand final, it was always going to end with a loss, so I’m not too upset.

“The body is really starting to feel the effects now so I’m sort of glad it’s over. My knees have been sore. I’ve had to ease off the training during the week, which affects the fitness, and I’m on the anti-inflammatories all week, which could not be good for my guts.

“I’ve been on them for the last six months or so, so I’ll be glad to get off them and move on with life.

“When the body gets to age 45 or 50, I’ll be very sore, I’d say, but hopefully there’ll be some improvements in the technologies and hopefully there might be a cure for arthritis by then.”

Asked about his plans for next year and whether he would stay involved with the club, McIntosh said: “I’d like to have a break from football altogether and just go out and find a job.

“It’s a shame really but I’m going to have to work full-time, I think. I’ve got a few things up my sleeve but I’d rather not talk about it on air.”

Reminded of his having played in the Eagles’ two premierships, McIntosh said: “It’s a long time ago now, isn’t it? It would have been nice to have had a little bit of success with the younger group of players but it’s not to be, and I wish them all well and hope they win a flag next year.

“It’s a good list. There are a couple of holes in it still but hopefully the club can draft well over the off season and we can improve again. Once the players get a bit of a roll on, I think the Eagles will be very hard to stop.”

Asked who could or would fill his defensive role, McIntosh said: “Well, that’s up to the club to work out. I missed eight or nine games in the middle of the year, and it was filled by Trent Carroll and Darren Glass.

“I’m not really sure of the club’s plans but I’d probably choose those two out of the players on the list, but it would be nice to get a Jonathan Hay (Hawthorn) back or something like that, so we’ll see what the club does about that.”

Of many Adelaide players making a point of seeking him out to shake his hand immediately after Saturday’s match, McIntosh said: “They basically said all the best for the future and I wished them the best for the finals.

“I’ve played against a few of those guys for 10 years or more, so I sort of feel like I half-know them, so that was nice of them.

“They’re very hard to beat here. We lost to them at home as well this year, although we had a few injuries. I think they were unlucky to finish out of the top four, which is going to hurt them, I think, for the premiership run.

“I think it would have been a different story if they’d finished in the top four. They would have been a real chance but I don’t think they can win it from here, although they are a very good side.”

Who was McIntosh’s toughest opponent as a defender (remembering he also kicked 108 career goals as a strong-marking, elusive forward)?

“Matthew Lloyd’s the best at the moment, without a doubt,” he said. “Over the journey, it’s pretty hard to separate him with (Tony) Lockett and (Gary) Ablett and (Jason) Dunstall.

“And (Matthew) Richardson’s very hard because he always got me for fitness and they opened the forward line up reasonably well for him.”

West Coast coach John Worsfold said McIntosh had been ‘an outstanding player in the competition over a long period of time’.

“What he has achieved with the knees he’s had to put up with from when he was pretty much a teenager has been outstanding,” Worsfold said.

“I don’t think Ashley could have given any more than what he gave to the game, and that’s probably always the ideal way to retire.”