Luke McPharlin Biography

Luke McPharlin announces his retirement from football, saying his ageing body can no longer handle the rigours of elite football.

"I couldn't have been managed any better this year. I couldn't have done anything more," McPharlin said.

"I took rests at the right time. I followed the program to the letter.

"I got some really good strengths into the calves over the off-season last year.

"So for the body to still not quite get there to September, it really was strongly indicating to me I'm past it, I'm beyond doing this anymore."

Luke McPharlin says he would not have made it to 50 games, let alone 250, without the help of Fremantle physio Jeff Boyle.

McPharlin had endured significant problems with osteitis pubis during his first couple of years in AFL footy, and said Boyle had been pivotal in getting him through 16 AFL seasons.

"I didn't think I'd get to 50 (games) actually," McPharlin said.

"He was instrumental. He seemed to be well ahead of the game in terms of his understanding of osteitis pubis.

"He had some really good understanding of that condition and how to manage it. Thankfully I haven't missed a game with that condition since.

"It's all been just soft tissue and a couple of knees. So he's been instrumental in my career, and I owe a lot to him."

Luke McPharlin says he regrets criticising his teammates to Fox Footy at half-time during the Dockers' clash against the Lions.

"It goes down to poor preparation going into the game, we really need to have a look at that," McPharlin told Fox Footy when approached on the ground at half-time.

"We do all the hard work to get it in there but didn't have the (quality) to finish.

"Mayney (Chris Mayne) missed that crucial one and some stupid free kicks as well have cost us, so we'll have to get to work."

McPharlin said that he shouldn't have aired his grievances in that moment, but said the Dockers were used to such feedback behind closed doors.

"Coming off the ground at half-time is a bit of whirlwind situation," McPharlin said.

"I clarified (my comments) to the playing group today. I felt that it certainly wasn't the time to make those comments. We have those chats internally here, but off the back of that I don't think anyone thought too much of it."

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says he was thrilled with the performance of young defender Alex Pearce against Essendon and says the club has found a player of the future.

Pearce made his debut in the Dockers' 28-point win over the Bombers at Domain Stadium on Saturday night in place of injured All Australian defender Luke McPharlin.

"We knew he could deliver that sort of football. We know we've got one there and he'll continue to grow so that's exciting for us," Lyon said.

"I thought the team really helped him with great pressure.

"I thought he played with confidence. He went for his marks, got a fist in, ran off.

"Above all, he's a great athlete who competes fiercely."

Luke McPharlin admits his wife was not pleased with his decision to back-flip on retirement plans so that he could continue playing in 2015.

"Certainly my wife was very disappointed when I flipped and changed my decision last year," McPharlin said.

"We sort of tried to have a chat at the start of the year but she doesn't believe me anymore because she thought I'd retire three or four years ago. So we're just going to leave it and see what happens."

There has been talk about managing his playing load in 2015 but McPharlin said he was keen to play as much as possible.

"How the team's performing and how I'm performing of course will play a role in whether I play all the games through the year," he said.

"But at this point in time I'm really not looking any further than probably the first four weeks.

"I really want to play some really good football in the first month and I'll reassess from there. I'm not really thinking about a figure or number of games."

Nathan Fyfe is elevated into Fremantle's leadership group, taking Matt de Boer's place.

Fyfe will join Matthew Pavlich, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands, Luke McPharlin and Lee Spurr in leading the club.

"Clearly on the field he's shown he's becoming an elite player of the competition," Dockers skipper Pavlich said of Fyfe.

"The players have certainly seen that. But his level of influence and his ability to give feedback to his teammates are certainly some areas that he's improved in and grown in. I think he's got a fantastic understanding of the modern game and how our game plan exists and how to execute that."

Luke McPharlin has confirmed he will be play on in 2015 after Fremantle announced the veteran defender had signed a one-year deal.

"He's a tremendous athlete and a complete professional, so we're confident he will play at the high level we've come to expect from him," Fremantle's list manager Brad Lloyd said.

Scans have confirmed that Luke McPharlin has injured his calf but Fremantle coach Ross Lyon is optimistic about the key defender returning this year.

""It's not ideal, obviously, but it's nothing dramatic either. We were hoping for a clear scan," Lyon said.

"He'll just need to do the work and get going and build some confidence in his body so we're not overly fussed."

Fremantle has confirmed that defender Luke McPharlin will miss three weeks with a calf injury he sustained in Saturday night's loss to Geelong.

The Dockers will now be without their 2012 All Australian defender until the first week of the finals.

Luke McPharlin could miss the rest of the home-and-away season due to another calf injury.

McPharlin felt some discomfort in his calf during the second quarter of the Dockers' two-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night and had to be substituted out of the match in the third quarter.

"I don't presume what it's going to be," McPharlin said of his injury.

"These things, who knows what shows up in a scan.

"But to not play out the game wasn't a positive sign, so we'll see what the result is and move forward from there."

Luke McPharlin and Michael Johnson are expected to be out for a month or more each after sustaining injuries against the Crows.

Johnson was subbed out of the game at half-time with a suspected medial ligament strain and Fremantle has revealed on Tuesday that he will miss four to six weeks after coach Ross Lyon initially suspected it may only be two to four.

McPharlin also injured his knee during the first half of the win over the Crows, but following scans on Monday the veteran has been ruled out for three to four weeks.

Michael Johnson says he looks forward to Luke McPharlin's return from a quad injury after the bye.

"He's a great leader," Johnson said of the 32-year-old.

"He's the one that controls the backline and we feed off him. It will be good to have the old boy back."

Following Josh Simpson's recent refusal to join the Dockers' flight to Sydney as a traveling emergency, Luke McPharlin says there are no culture issues at the club.

"We believe our culture is very strong, and has been for a number of years now," McPharlin said.

"We've had a couple of incidents early in the season that we wish didn't happen. But this is part and parcel of trying to organise and manage 40 players from different walks of lives.

"For the great majority of our playing group, it's a very strong brand and culture. Unfortunately some players fall by the wayside, but we deal with them internally."

Ross Lyon says Luke McPharlin's return from a calf injury will likely only be in round 23 despite initial reports that it was only a five-week injury.

Luke McPharlin will miss five weeks with a torn calf.

"It's a big loss, but we certainly need Alex Silvagni and Peter Faulks to step up in that role," Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said.

"The positive is he will be back, but it's a significant calf injury and there's some adversity there for the group to overcome."

Luke McPharlin breaks the trend of players and coaches being confused about the new marking rules by saying he has a clear understanding of them instead.

"I feel I've got a good grasp, or understanding, of the rule," McPharlin said.

"That idea of the full extension of the arms, you don't want to be pushing opponents out of the way.

"So it's really just about standing your ground and trying to fight for a position really and protecting the ball drop."

Bombers Paddy Ryder and Nick Kommer accept bans for rough conduct against Fremantle and will miss three and two matches respectively.

Ryder's bump, in particular, resulted in Docker Luke McPharlin being concussed and subbed out of the match.

Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin has signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

"Luke had an outstanding season this year," Freo's general manager of player management Brad Lloyd said.

"We are delighted that he's signed on for the next two seasons. He's a highly respected member of the playing group and integral to our hopes of achieving sustained success."

Luke McPharlin is unlikely to take part in Fremantle's finals campaign after suffering a right hamstring injury against Melbourne.

Freo defender Luke McPharlin is set to play his 200th game but says he was initially hesitant about pursuing an AFL career.

"I wasn't playing any footy at district level or state level, I was just playing for my high school and a few talent scouts had encouraged me to play a single colts game so that I could be eligible to nominate for the draft," McPharlin said.

"I only decided to play that game the night before, so they didn't have time to change the names in the record and I actually went under a different name: Clint Hopkins.

"I managed to kick eight and play pretty well, and I think a lot of the scouts around the country were pretty excited about Clint Hopkins and what he could do.

"But it turned out it wasn't him at all and from that, there was a bit of a story about 'was there some skulduggery going on'?"

Matthew Pavlich has been retained as skipper of Fremantle with a five-man leadership group to assist him that will include Aaron Sandilands, Luke McPharlin, David Mundy, Matt de Boer and Hayden Ballantyne.

"It's humbling to know my peers and the coaching group hold me in that esteem," Pavlich said.

"I understand the responsibility that goes with the role and, hopefully, I can continue to develop and grow."

Ballantyne says his appointment to the leadership group is an honour.

"We have certain criteria that we hold ourselves to and I've worked as hard as I can to maintain those standards and it's been noticed by the team," Ballantyne said.

Following his retirement from football, Luke McPharlin is set to release his first single as a musician called Leaders.

"Obviously it is something that's quite personal, to release your own music,'' he said.

"I've played a heap of music over the years and done a bit of song writing but this is the first time I've made it really public, so it's going to be exciting to see what happens."

Jonathan Brown will undergo surgery after receiving multiple fractures to his face in the loss to Fremantle resulting from a clash with Luke McPharlin.

Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin has signed with the club until the end of 2012.

Fremantle's Luke McPharlin hopes that playing as a defender in tandem with teammate Chris Tarrant in 2010 will help him revisit his best form of 2007 and 2008.

"I don't rule out playing a bit of a swingman role through the year, but I think I've played my best football in defence and I look forward to returning there," McPharlin said.

"I'm looking forward to playing with Tarrant. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and I think it'll hopefully be a pretty good partnership."

On the eve of his 150th game, Docker Luke McPharlin admits it wasn't always his ambition to play AFL football.

"I'm the first to admit I wasn't entirely keen on the idea of a career in the AFL," McPharlin said.

"It was pretty much just an open mind and, 'Let's try this and see what happens'. I've certainly been thankful for the journey and where it's got me."

Fremantle will welcome back Luke McPharlin and defender Antoni Grover for Sunday's clash with Geelong at Subiaco Oval.

Fremantle rookie Clancee Pearce will play against Port Adelaide this weekend after injuries to Antoni Grover and Luke McPharlin.

"Three out of those four guys that are out are in our leadership group, which is significant," Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said.

"I don't think I've been through a list like this as in the injuries so early in the season.

"You find out a lot about your list and the resolve and what you can do when a lot of things aren't going right for you."

Fremantle coach Mark Harvey says his star swingman Luke McPharlin is ready to go after recovering from an achilles injury.

Luke McPharlin, Aaron Sandilands, Antoni Grover and Des Headland have been promoted to Fremantle's leadership group.