Phil Davis may not have added to his 192 AFL games in 2023 but he is adamant the year has been a hugely fulfilling one as he called time on his distinguished career at the top.
The former Crow and inaugural GIANTS skipper signed on for one more season at the end of 2022 but failed to break into the AFL side as his body challenged him and the GIANTS' backline stabilised into one of the best in the competition.
The South Australian has always been more than just a leader and champion player at the GIANTS though, he has been a chief creator of their culture and that's a status he maintained right until the end.
"A big part of me thought last year was going to be my last year, I'm sure during this year many people thought I should have called it quits but that's a different lens to look at it with," he said.
"I came back to see if I had anything left in me, I still found that competitive want.
"At times the body didn't help me out, but it really crystallised the passion I have for people and development and to cultivate a successful culture here.
"To become superseded and unnecessary at a football club is a nice feeling to have."
Davis is selling himself short there but the continued brilliance of Sam Taylor and emergence of Jack Buckley as his high-quality accomplice down back has allowed for a swift adjustment at GWS, now that the 32-year-old has retired.
They've provided the backbone for the GIANTS to re-emerge as a premiership threat in the next couple of seasons and Davis will be watching that quest with great interest.
"Sam Taylor is by far the best key back in the game. Jack Buckley's on his way to joining him in that conversation. We've just got a great group," he said.
"The early years, they were hard times. Then we had this incredible run from 2016 to '19, some little hiccups the last few years but to see us bounce again has given me great satisfaction.
"We've got a great age demographic and character and a team that will do whatever it takes us to win and I'm very excited to be invited to a Grand Final whenever it comes and to watch this group be the first to win a premiership for the GIANTS."
The on-field matters at the GIANTS are back in order under Adam Kingsley and captain Toby Greene, but Davis, like so many others at the club, has always been invested in far more than that.
And that was evident as he reflected, with the entire playing group watching on for his farewell press conference, on what has given him the most pride from his 12 years at the GIANTS.
"The most satisfaction I've had in my whole career is what we as a footy club have been able to achieve. It gets lost sometimes just how difficult it is to start. When I made the decision to come here it was somewhat courageous but also somewhat naïve in how difficult the challenge was going to be," Davis said.
"But I've really loved that and loved to see what we've got now. Membership records, grand finals to many winning seasons and another one this year.
"I think we do things very differently, but we do them differently in the right way."
Davis highlighted Brent Daniels' match-winning goal in the semi-final of 2019 that sparked their run to the Grand Final that year, as the on-field moment that stands out for him the most.
It's a month he says he wishes he "could bottle up" as he also cast his eye forward to the future.
Davis' movements in that space will be of interest to the football community, with many tipping him to do whatever he wants from coaching, to even running the game one day.
"I was climbing a mountain in a football sense now I'm looking for the next mountain. I just want to prove myself and learn more, know more," he said.
"I've got an incredible passion for sport in general and people and learning and business too so I'll see how that all marries up. I'm incredibly humbled for what football's given me for 15 years but what’s next is really exciting."
