ADELAIDE midfielder Brent Reilly hopes to be able to farewell Andrew McLeod on the field in round 22 against St Kilda if the veteran Crow decides this week the 2010 season is his last.

The 26-year-old said it was disappointing there were no farewell games for retired veterans Simon Goodwin and Brett Burton, who recently announced that injuries would keep them from playing again in their final seasons.

The Crows also suddenly saw off Nathan Bock this week when the key position player decided to sign with the Gold Coast Suns.

“It’s been pretty sad. I’ve grown up with those blokes and they’ve given me a lot of advice,” Reilly said after the Crows’ narrow loss to Collingwood on Saturday night.

“I would have loved to play in their last game. I guess I did, really, and didn’t even know it was their last game.

“It would have been really fitting to send them off against St Kilda next week at home.”

He said the players would appreciate the opportunity to farewell McLeod, who has not played since round 16 due to a knee injury but has not yet announced his plans for next year, in one final hit-out next weekend.   

“It would be amazing. It would be a nice to get one of them out on the park rather than see them drive around in the Hilux,” he said.

“Hopefully Andrew gets to do that. He’s going to train during the week and we’re hoping he can get up for Saturday.”

Coach Neil Craig said McLeod was rated “a slight chance” to face the Saints at AAMI Stadium in a week’s time.

Reilly said the exodus of players from the club, which included Tyson Edwards who retired mid-season, indicated a need for an increased level of ownership from some of the younger players.

“I’ve got to lift my leadership skills and really lead the young guys along,” he said.

“We’ve got a young group and we need to lift the standards of the footy club and try and get to the ultimate goal.”

Reilly said the final weeks of the season were important for the Crows despite their failure to make the finals for the first time in six years.

“We want to win. We’ve got a good team, it’s a new era of the footy club and it’s up to us now,” he said.

“I thought we challenged Collingwood really well tonight and their experience got us in the end.

“We put a really good four quarter effort and hopefully it sends a message to the competition that we’re going to move on to bigger things next year.”