Ultimate swingman McCarrey retires from WAFLWednesday, July 24, 2013 - 1:55 PM - by Chris Pike

TEAM success might have eluded him but Andrew McCarrey amassed 173 games at East Fremantle and South Fremantle while representing WA twice and winning two fairest and best awards in a terrific career that now has prematurely come to a close.

McCarrey's league career with East Fremantle began back in 2001 where the versatile key position player impressed enough to be rookie-listed by West Coast but injuries curtailed his 2002 campaign and he then had a two-year spell from the game.

However, ever since he returned to the Sharks in 2005 he went on to become one of the WAFL's best and most consistent key position players whether that was a terrific lockdown defender or a hard leading, and usually straight kicking full-forward.

Over the next five years, McCarrey notched up over 100 games with East Fremantle, won fairest and best awards in 2005 and 2008 while also being the leading goalkicker in 2006 and 2009 despite also being the Sharks best defender.

It was team success he craved, though, so he joined reigning premier South Fremantle for 2010 and that's where he played out his career before the 30-year-old decided to bring an end to his terrific 173-game WAFL career upon rehabilitating from a knee injury.

Having played WAFL football for more than a decade it's certainly a strange feeling for McCarrey to now be out of the competition, but it's something he is actually excited about because of the chance to focus on other things it provides.

"It is a strange feeling but it's probably more a good feeling than anything. My body feels good for it and it's a bit of relief to be honest. I'm able to start the next chapter fully in my life now and I look forward to new challenges with a bit more freedom. I'm really looking forward to the future now," McCarrey said.

"I obviously had a pretty unfortunate injury at the start of the year rupturing my medial ligament but I felt like my knee was coming good, and I think I would have been able to play out the season. But really the timing is probably right.

"I'm 30 now and I need to look after my body for the rest of my life, and I'm looking to pursue other interests. I'm looking at really getting into water polo, swimming and I'm going to start doing triathlons so I need to preserve my body for all of those sorts of things."

McCarrey has his name on the No. 11 locker at East Fremantle for 111 games with the Sharks, is a dual fairest and best winner there, two-time leading goalkicker, played in a final with South Fremantle in 2011 and played for Western Australia in 2008 and 2010.

Despite the lack of a winning final, that is quite a lot to be proud of but it was giving his all for his team that he was most proud of.

"I've played the one final in the last 13 years and in 173 games there was only one final in there, but there's more to playing footy than just playing finals. I can take a lot away from my career and it has been a great experience over a long time," he said.

"I've made a lot of great friendships and I've experienced some highs and plenty of lows, and that's what you have to go through in your career. I can really look back and be proud of what I did, and I really enjoyed my time.

"I suppose it's sort of in the past to be honest already but I am proud of what I achieved in my career. I did have some personal successes and accolades along the way, but at the end of the day I always played for the team and always put my team first.

"I suppose looking back that's something that I can hold my head high about and be proud of because I was a team player, and would always fill the role asked of me and put the team first."

A swingman has been something used to describe McCarrey for most of his career and he fits the bill perfectly.

Rarely was he beaten while playing on the best forward in the opposition team in defence and when playing in attack, he proved he could kick goals and finished with 154 from his 173 games.

His goal kicking feats included hauls of 11 and eight in 2006, while he also kicked seven once in his career, six on one occasion, five in two matches and four on four other occasions. He was happy to play at both ends, though, and he says that with a straight face.

"I played most of my career down back but when I did play forward I think I filled the role asked of me pretty well, and was able to kick a few goals throughout my career," McCarrey said.

"At the end of the day, though, I played where I was needed for my team and I did play that swingman role pretty much my whole career. As a result of that, I was sort of Mr Fix It and I would play the role that the coach required of me at the time."

Now that he can look back on his career, McCarrey is obviously proud of everything he did in 111 matches with East Fremantle and even though he only added 62 with South Fremantle, his heart will remain linked to both clubs and he leaves the WAFL with plenty of fond memories.

"I guess I see myself as a Fremantle person. I played 111 games with East Fremantle and won two fairest and bests there so I will always hold both clubs close to my heart. I had a lot of enjoyment at both clubs and got to play in my one final with South Fremantle," he said.

"I made a lot of good friends at both clubs as well so I will always appreciate the time I spent at both of them and I probably don't really want to favour one over the other.

"I obviously can remember my first game when I was an 18-year-old kid running around at East Fremantle Oval against West Perth and I lined up on Brendon Fewster, who was a monster.

"I remember my State games obviously and representing WA was a great achievement and something I'm proud of. I will remember a lot of derbies, especially on Foundation Day, and getting to play for both East Fremantle and South Fremantle is a pretty special thing. I was able to be part of some great wins over the years."

A big reason why McCarrey is able to be so OK with the fact that his decorated WAFL career of 12 years and 173 games is over is the fact that he has plenty to keep him occupied that he can now focus even more on.

He is looking to study to become a physiotherapist down the track and continues to run the Nature's Harvest health food store in Cottesloe.

The 30-year-old has also returned to the football field playing with Wesley-Curtin in the A-Grade Amateurs alongside younger brother Mike and cousin Zac while ironically playing under Earl Spalding who was his first WAFL league coach at East Fremantle.

After going without so much success during his WAFL career, McCarrey could also end the 2013 season with a flag if things continue to progress as they are.

"The next chapter in my life has started now and I've got my priorities. I'm looking to study as a physiotherapist and I'm also involved in running a business," he said.

"I've also decided for the rest of this year that I will play with Wesley-Curtin in A-Grade Amateurs and to play alongside my younger brother is a great experience, and one I've never been able to have before.

"I really want to make the most of my opportunity to play with my brother and cousin while I can, along with a few other ex-East Fremantle and South Fremantle guys down there. I'm really having a lot of fun there and who knows, maybe we can win an A-Grade flag."

Part of McCarrey's future will include more travelling as well and he's already eyeing off a trip to Brazil for next year's World Cup.

"Now that I won't have the commitment of playing WAFL football I'm looking at possibly going to the World Cup next year and doing a bit more travelling, which I haven’t really been able to do throughout the year because of football," McCarrey said.

"Travelling is something that is definitely on the cards and the World Cup might have to be incorporated into that."