For all of what Ashton Whiley has achieved on the court through a plethora of team and individual honours, it will be camaraderie off the court that the face of the Northern Hawks over their entire history will miss the most.
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After 14 seasons perched at the top of the State League game, Whiley is set to walk away not being able to give any more to it.
"Sure it was age, but probably more the commitment level needed to keep on playing State League," the 29-year-old said.
"You need a lot of commitment because the fitness level required outside of training, games and things like that is fairly intense.
"They are probably the main reasons, but so I can also have a bit of a life outside netball."
The final call to retire before a new season is not a decision that Whiley has taken lightly.
After 149 club games for the Hawks over eight seasons that proceeded with 100 first for hometown side Devon in addition to ANL stints at Tassie Spirit and Tasmanian Magpies, the epitome of a team player is spent.
"It's really the commitment that's needed to your teammates," she said. "If you feel like you can't handle what you've been given and what is expected being a team sport, you're letting down your team and not just yourself when you can't perform at that level."
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So while the veteran no longer will miss the hundreds of hours putting a strain on the body over each one of those 14 gruelling years, not sharing the court with the teammates that shared in her success will be tougher.
"When you leave the sport, the things you hold onto most is the friendships," she said.
"I won a premiership in the 19s at Devon and a couple of years ago with the Hawks in opens, and even the individual awards - you remember them, they happened, but probably it's the friendships that you take away at the end of the day that you hold onto."
Whiley's move to the Hawks had coincided with a move to Launceston for university.
It was a hard for the Devonport-born midcourter, but after years of lifting the Hawks up the ladder and repeated grand final losses, the 2018 breakthrough premiership over AYC-Friends Arrows made the toil worth it.
It encapsulated a glittering netball career.
"I captained the girls in that game and it takes on a bit of a different meaning as well when you're captain," she said. "You're much more proud of the girls on a whole - not just for winning the game, but the whole season and all of their individual accomplishments, even the years you don't win premierships."
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Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
