Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn, Chad Wingard. 200 games! Announces retirement (2 Sept 2024)

[barbster]

Get his calves right and have him play the last two games of the season against Rich & NM. If he shows anything we can retain, if it shows he is done, at least we have given him a swansong.

 

[HedgeFund]

Get his calves right and have him play the last two games of the season against Rich & NM. If he shows anything we can retain, if it shows he is done, at least we have given him a swansong.

So are you suggesting we’ll just drop a senior player to Box Hill to bring back in a guy we are likely to delist?

To see if he can play at the level?

At the age of 31?

FWIW - he has played a total of 40 senior games since the end of 2020. His repeated calf injuries can’t be fixed.

 

[HedgeFund]

Not named for Box Hill, and apparently “managed”.

Playing just two VFL games in the past 9 weeks. Can anyone shed any light? Is it just persistent calf issues again?

 

[Pinoy Hawk]

 

[Iceman!]

Sad but not unexpected, it's a shame his body let him down so much towards the end because at his best he was one of the most watchable football players around. Never doubted his commitment and what he brought off the field. Seemed like a really great bloke, hope we still see him around the club for years to come.

 

[Bugs1977]

Footy just isn't fair sometimes. Seems so wrong that Chad will retire without a premiership medal but it doesn't take away from how talented a player he was in his prime which for him was interrupted by a gazillion soft tissue injuries.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Just saw this pop up on social media. When he was on, there were few in the competition that could go with Chad and he almost always got himself up for the big games. Clarko was a big admirer of Wingard and would have been the driving force to get him into the club, especially as a replacement for Rioli after 2018 when Rioli retired. We never got to see the best of Wingard in Hawthorn colours. His raw stats don't do him justice for the influence he could exert over the outcome of a game. I have no doubt that if he had been fit and raring to go, he would have had a big say in a finals campaign. Just a pity that he couldn't quite get himself right again after the serious injury he suffered last year.

 

[Brishawk]

Wishing you all the best Chad. Even though we didnt see your best at the Hawks, you still gave us some great memories. And i know your worth to the club was much more than what you did on the football field. Good luck!

 

[MrPremiership]

Thanks Chad

 

[Billyc]

He was a terrific player at Port Adelaide and one of the most exciting players in the game in his first few years. Wasn't able to recapture that early form and promise and unfortunately he couldn't get his body right after moving to Hawthorn. He made a valuable contribution culturally to the club.

 

[TylerDurden]

Thanks Chad. Love ya.

 

[Bedi]

We were probably all expecting this but that's really sad news. A real shame it didn't work out this year. If we get a horror run of injuries is he still available for selection, or is that it?

 

[Sturty]

Hearing we have already offered him a job off-field for next year?
All the best in retirement Chad!

 

[smish]

Thanks Chad. 2x AA at age 22 is unbelievable, people forget how good he was. I hope that’s what he is remembered for and not Clarko’s failed strategy.

Now, Cmac into the #20 pls.

 

[MitchHomieQuan]

Very sad to see him retire.
Will never forget running into him at a gig at the forum over the off season he came to us.
Took me into his VIP area & chatted footy for a while and was an absolute ripper bloke. All the best to the guy post footy!

 

[Mercy Seat]

Disappointing that he doesn’t get a send off of sorts, but the reality is that it was never going to be possible.

Seemed a real shame he couldn’t get his body right, it was like we had a Ferrari sitting in the garage that we were never really able to take for a real spin.

Clearly a great personality at the club, really wish him all the best.

 

[KermitJagger]

Wishing you all the best Chad. Even though we didnt see your best at the Hawks, you still gave us some great memories. And i know your worth to the club was much more than what you did on the football field. Good luck!

Unpopular opinion on this board, but I reckon we did see close to Chad's best at the Hawks - it just completely missed our best. He was outstanding in 2021 and would have given the AA side a tilt if he'd played every game, was having the type of impact that Warner is lauded as having this season.

16 games
22.4 disposals per game
7.1 score involvements per game
12 goals
19 goal assists

Just one player in a long line of players absolutely robbed of their most productive years through soft tissue injuries. Hope the reports are true and he stays around the club in another capacity.

 

[SSSSSS]

Injuries absolutely ruined Chad.

At his best he was unbelievable. I just wish we could have seen him and Cyril in the same team.

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

All the best Chad. Always enjoyed watching him play both at Hawthorn and at Port. A shame injury forced him out but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Thanks for everything you gave to the Hawks

 

[Hodgey 15]

If Chad had a real run of it without injuries he would of been a sensational player for us.
We got a great look at it in 2021 but disappointingly that was about the peak of it at Hawks.
Hope retirement treats him well and we see more of him at club.

 

[RoughysMullet]

Hoping he’ll be staying on in the indigenous advisory role to the board which has been invaluable to club - has arguably been more important than his on field contributions…

 

[4THAWN]

Certainly had the ability, just too many injuries. He was the form player of the comp at the end of 2021 with 8 Brownlow votes in the final 4 rounds. Was absolutely electric.

Even in his 1st game for us against north, he turned in a matchwinning 3 goal performance.

will miss chad

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Such a talent.

It's a real shame we never got to see the best of him. We were robbed of a classy, exciting and skilful midfielder. But his body just continued to betray him.

A fit Wingard rotating through the middle and playing forward with Watson, Ginnivan, MacDonald and Moore could have been special.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Even through all the soft tissue injuries we did get some bloody good footy from Chad at times (especially when he played in the middle).

Just a pity we couldn't see it more often but it is what it is and I wish Chad all the best. He seems like a pretty switched on guy I'm sure he will do well with whatever he chooses post playing.

 

[H00t]

Unpopular opinion on this board, but I reckon we did see close to Chad's best at the Hawks - it just completely missed our best. He was outstanding in 2021 and would have given the AA side a tilt if he'd played every game, was having the type of impact that Warner is lauded as having this season.

16 games
22.4 disposals per game
7.1 score involvements per game
12 goals
19 goal assists

Just one player in a long line of players absolutely robbed of their most productive years through soft tissue injuries. Hope the reports are true and he stays around the club in another capacity.

While he was really good in 2021. It still was a decent bit off his best. That’s not a knock on his 2021 form but an acknowledgment of how ridiculously good he was from his 2nd to 4th years.

In 2015 from 22 games he averaged 19.2 disposals kicked 53 goals and had 20 goal assists.

His down year was 2014 and even that was better than 2021.

He was a ridiculous talent who was unfortunately let down by his body. Just as frustrating as it was for us as fans I can only imagine it was infinitely more frustrating for him. He could have been anything.