Three-time AFL premiership player Jason Castagna has announced his retirement from professional football, effective immediately. Castagna, who played 134 senior matches for the Richmond Football Club and booting 127 goals, admitted that he had lost his love for the game and didn’t want to let his teammates and club down by not giving it his all.
Castagna was selected by the Richmond Football Club in the 2014 AFL Rookie Draft, with pick No. 29 overall. He was a key player in the recent success of the club, appearing in 92 of 95 matches and averaging over a goal per game between 2017 and 2020. He was initially tried out as a defender, but found his niche as a forward in his third season with the club. He became renowned as an excellent runner and pressure player who could also hit the scoreboard with his evasiveness and ability to kick with both feet.
Jason Castagna (L), Jack Ross and Jack Riewoldt of the Tigers (R) sing the team song during the 2022 AFL Round 23 match between the Essendon Bombers and the Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Castagna was a consistent player for the Richmond Football Club, booting 25 goals or more in each of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons. He had a career-best season in 2019, finishing in the top 10 of the Jack Dyer Medal, and had a standout Grand Final performance with 20 disposals and five behinds.
Blair Hartley, Richmond’s General Manager of Football Talent, thanked Castagna for his contribution to the club and praised him for his selfless role across his career. “Jason has been the ultimate teammate over the course of his 134 games at Richmond,” Hartley said. “He worked so hard on his craft to become an integral part of our team, playing a team-oriented and disciplined role in our forward line. He set the tone with the pressure he created in the forward half of the ground through effort, grit, and the ability to win or halve contests for the team.”
BigFooty.com Tigers fans affectionately nicknamed him “George”, for reasons unknown but rumoured to be in relation to Castagna’s constant on-field verbalisations of his frustration with something he called “the Penske file”.
Castagna, who was proud to represent his family on the MCG each week, will be remembered as a crucial player in the club’s three premierships. He will always be a Richmond man and the club wishes him and his family all the best for the next chapter of their lives.
