DANIEL Cross has opted to retire after Melbourne decided not to offer the 248-game player a new contract.
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The 32-year-old former Albury junior will play his final AFL game for the Demons against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
The decision has shocked many in AFL ranks after the midfielder picked up a career-high 39 possessions against Fremantle last weekend.
“You agree to disagree on things at times,” Cross said.
''A bit of me dies inside. It's going to be hard to let go.
''I'm comfortable with how the year panned out as there wasn't much more I could have done.'
"It’s a privileged existence that we live as footballers and athletes and certainly not one I've taken for granted in my 15 years of playing.
"I was never the most talented or fast player to have ever graced this wonderful game that we play, but I wanted to make sure that every single day of every single week that I wasn't satisfied until I improved myself as a player and was on the right path to help my team succeed.
"Unfortunately fairytales don't happen that often in this game, but I'm very proud of the story that I've written."
Cross played 210 games for the Bulldogs across 12 seasons and 38 matches for Melbourne in 2014-2015.
Melbourne football operations manager Josh Mahoney said Cross had performed his role with aplomb since joining the Demons and had been offered a position in the club’s football department.
"When we first spoke to Crossy, we saw his role at the club as two-fold,” Mahoney told melbournefc.com.au.
“Firstly, he could play a role on field and just as important he could play a major role off field working with our players, showing them how to prepare as an AFL footballer.
"He has performed both roles extremely well over two years.
“His performance last weekend highlighted his character and competitiveness, where he only knows one way to play and that is by giving everything you have and never giving up.”
Cross made his AFL debut for the Bulldogs in round 10, 2002, and went on to regularly feature prominently in the club’s best and fairest.
Cross won the top honour in 2008.
The retirement comes only a week after Osborne’s Adam Schneider announced he would be quitting AFL.
