Undecided following Leopold’s grand final triumph, veteran ruck Trent West has made the call to end a football career that also took him to the top of the AFL mountain.
West, who turns 36 on October 17, told the Lions today (Friday) that he wouldn’t be part of their premiership defence in 2024.
He says the decision to hang up the boots hasn’t been easy.
“It’s been a bit trickier than I thought,” West told K rock Football.
“Deep down, I probably knew I was done, but I still had a bit of the hunger there for it, and I was really enjoying it.
“If we had of lost, it might have been a different story, but it would be hard to front up again next year and try and do it again.”
West joined Leopold, where his wife Libby had played netball, at the start of the 2017 season off the back of an 11-season AFL career.
After being drafted by Geelong in 2005 from the Gippsland Power, West played 54 games for the Cats, including their 2011 grand final win over Collingwood, where he shared ruck duties with Brad Ottens.
He then spent three seasons for 16 games with the Brisbane Lions before returning to Geelong.
West played 87 games for Leopold and was instrumental in their barnstorming run through this year’s GFNL finals as they became just the third team in league history to win the flag from an elimination final.
“If we had of won it last year, I might have wrapped it up,” he said. “But I knew we could get it done, and we had the group to do it.
“It’s been special having my kids around; my young fella’s playing under-9s, and he and his footy mates are there every week watching.
“It became more about them than myself than an individual thing.
“It was so special to see the Leopold community get around for us the whole finals series.
“And then to play it (grand final) at Leopold was unbelievable.”
West has backed Kyle Bumpstead to fill his rather large boots in 2024.
After returning from injury, Bumpstead produced a stunning second half of the season to share the Allthorpe Medal as GFNL reserves best-and-fairest.
“He put his hand up this year,” West said.
“At times, I felt like I was struggling, and I thought, ‘geez, Bumpy’s playing some good footy, I better pull my finger out and get going, or he’s going to push me out’.”
“He’ll come in and play a big role in the senior side.
“He knows what to do.”
Bumpstead might not need to go far for advice, with West not ruling out staying involved off-field at Memorial Park.
“I spoke briefly to Buddha (Garry Hocking), and he’s keen for me to hang around,” West said.
“Hopefully, I can help out in some way.
“Even if it’s just with the talls, that would probably suit me perfectly.
“I helped out coaching my young fella’s under-9s this year, so I’ll definitely still be around the club.”
West is the second confirmed departure from Leopold’s premiership team, with star forward Mitch Patten heading to Queensland for the 2024 season.
