Griffin, McGinnity, Payne all retire from WAFLFriday, September 18, 2020 - 6:20 AM - by Chris Pike

THE WAFL seasons came to an end for East Fremantle, Swan Districts and East Perth on the weekend, and so did the decorated playing careers of Jonathon Griffin, Steven Payne and Patrick McGinnity.

The careers of the trio were all remarkable and by the time they played their last games after Round 9 on Sunday afternoon, they had combined to produce 190 AFL appearances while playing 370 WAFL games for a premiership, four Grand Final appearances and a pair of fairest and best awards.

Each of them will leave a significant hole at their clubs in 2021 with Griffin still East Fremantle's captain and No. 1 ruckman with McGinnity also East Perth's sole captain for the first time in 2020 while Payne remained a tremendously consistent and hard-running wingman for Swan Districts.

By the time McGinnity left Leederville Oval after his last game on Saturday afternoon with daughter Maya in his arms, there was still a chance it wasn’t his final appearance with the Royals possible of still reaching the finals should Perth lose to South Fremantle.

It wasn’t to be and it did turn out to be his last game and he retired a winner after East Perth's victory against Peel Thunder.

Only one of Griffin or Payne would be able to retire a winner when East Fremantle took on Swan Districts on Sunday afternoon, and it was Payne's Swans team who prevailed but in the end it was a fitting tribute with both players chaired from New Choice Homes Park through a guard of honour.

That brought to an end three decorated playing careers that all went in significantly different trajectories and each of the trio were vastly different players, but all are equally deserving to have their careers recognised and celebrated as they move into the next phase of their lives.

Griffin came through the ranks at East Fremantle a promising young big man and was subsequently picked up by the Adelaide Crows in the 2005 rookie draft.

During his time in Adelaide he would make 41 AFL appearances with the Crows while achieving some success in the SANFL as well including winning a premiership in 2007 with Central District.

By the end of 2010, his time was up in Adelaide and he was traded back home to the Fremantle Dockers. 

Despite hiccups along the way including a 2013 knee reconstruction and always being behind the dominant Aaron Sandilands, Griffin played some important and impressive football with the Dockers over his 56 matches before departing at the end of 2018.

While at the Dockers in terms of the WAFL, he did initially resume playing with East Fremantle upon his return and that included him delivering one of the most dominant Grand Final ruck performances in recent memory in the Sharks' 2012 loss to Claremont.

When Fremantle partnered up with Peel, Griffin went on to play with the Thunder in the WAFL and he played in the historic 2016 premiership but couldn’t quite hold his place in the side to go back-to-back in 2017.

Once he left the Dockers, he returned to East Fremantle and has been the captain at the Sharks in the three years since and while the results in terms of wins haven’t been there, Griffin has been an outstanding leader of the club and deserves to retire tremendously proud of all he achieved.

Having played 97 matches in the AFL at Adelaide and Fremantle, another 103 in the WAFL at East Fremantle and Peel Thunder, and being a premiership player in both the SANFL and WAFL all highlight just what an outstanding career Griffin put together.

To start and finish his career at East Fremantle is something that Griffin is especially proud of now that he moves into retirement.

"I feel very honoured and privileged to have been part of the footy club for such a long period as a supporter, player and reserves coach. To finish off captaining the club that I followed as a kid, it’s a terrific honour and I’ll take that with me for the rest of my life," Griffin told the club's website.

"It has been a challenge particularly in the position that I play, you get banged up every week, but cut me open and I bleed blue-and-white.

"It hasn’t been a win-loss ratio that we would have liked, or a fairytale premiership ending, but I feel as though we have made tremendous progress over the last three years and the footy club is heading in a really good direction."

When Steven Payne made the move to Perth from Margaret River, playing with East Perth was understandably what he set his sights on achieving and he would go on to produce a decorated career with the Royals before the frustrations of the West Coast partnership drove him away like so many others.

Even earning a regular spot in the league side before that at the Royals took Payne some time and he had to endure a significant apprenticeship in the reserves, but by 2011 he consolidated his spot and made that outer wing his own at Leederville Oval taking it over from the legendary Craig Wulff.

Payne became a crucial member of the East Perth team that knocked on the door of a premiership for four years reaching a first semi-final in 2012, Grand Finals in 2013 and 2014, and then a preliminary final again in 2015.

Payne was there for all of them and was a prolific ball-winner and remarkably hard-running wingman the whole way through which was recognised when he won the FD Book Medal as fairest and best winner in 2014 – a Grand Final year for the Royals.

He reached his 100-game milestone at East Perth in 2016 to earn his name on the No. 2 locker beneath another great from down south, Craig Glancy, but a year later and he wanted out.

His former teammate and good friend from East Perth Adam Pickering was now coaching at Swan Districts, plenty of other former Royals were there too including close mate Freddie Clutterbuck, and it was a natural fit for Payne to join Swans if he were to continue his WAFL career.

And not surprisingly, he has been on the wing for Swan Districts virtually ever since adding another 44 games to his WAFL career to take his tally to 153 before retiring after Sunday's victory against East Fremantle.

To play more than 150 games, win a fairest and best award and be universally respected as a popular teammate and as one of the hardest working, and most consistent players in the competition all mean that Payne should move into retirement with pride.

"Tomorrow I will be playing my 150th WAFL game and also my last as I have decided to hang the boots up. It has been a great journey and a huge part of my life," Payne wrote on Facebook ahead of Sunday's game. 

"I have met some awesome people and made life long mates. Thanks to my family and friends for all the support throughout my career. Thank you to @swandistrictsfc and @eastperthfc for giving me the opportunity to play. Peace out, see ya in the can bar."

Then there is Patrick McGinnity who was always earmarked as a rising star coming through the ranks at Claremont before the West Coast Eagles selected him in the 2008 Pre-Season Draft on the back of Under-18s All-Australian season of 2007.

Even today, you might find people surprised that he played 93 AFL matches and for whatever reason he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for what he was able to do at the top level.

He more than held his own in the AFL and for much of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons he was a regular and important member in the West Coast line-up. 

That's not an achievement that comes by accident and his hard work and commitment to his professional preparation off the field, and then his hard-at-it committed approach on the field became his trademark.

In the end, he had a 93-game AFL career that he deserved to be tremendously proud of before he committed himself to East Perth in 2017 staying on at the Royals having played with them in the WAFL the last couple of years as part of West Coast's partnership.

McGinnity played in the 2014 Grand Final with East Perth, alongside Payne, and then by the time he was at the club full-time in 2017, he was named co-captain and would go on to share the fairest and best award a year later.

He was then sole captain in 2020 after the retirement during the COVID-19 break of Kyle Anderson. His body has clearly told him that it's time to move on from this level of football, but McGinnity can look back on a tremendous career.

Having played 93 AFL games with the Eagles, 37 WAFL matches with Claremont and another 77 with East Perth for a total of 114 including playing in a Grand Final and winning a fairest and best award, are all impressive achievements. 

McGinnity might not have got the finals appearance to finish off he was craving, but he couldn’t complain about leaving Leederville Oval a winner on Saturday afternoon.

"I was keen to leave that celebration side of it, but the boys allowed me to have that little moment to myself and I appreciated that. It’s been a long time playing footy and it was a nice moment," McGinnity told The West Australian.

"We’re such a young group and we’re always trying to get better. It’s been a good year for us. We’ve got good leadership. Barney (Jeremy Barnard) has always been big on that, so we’re in good hands for next year."