And fittingly in the last of his 220 games, five-time club best and fairest Messaoudi was best afield in the Bulldogs’ 18.12 (120) to 12.10 (82) win over Kangaroo Flat at Bendigo Mazda Oval, after which he was chaired off through a guard of honour to AC/DC’s TNT.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Ollie and he will go down as one of the greats of our footy club,” Gisborne coach Rod Sharp said.

“You don’t get competitors as big as him… he gave his all in every game he played and I said to our young blokes after the game that if they can get anywhere near him, they are going to have good footy careers.”

In a game where there was only pride for both sides to play for, the Bulldogs got the jump in the first term, using the breeze to build a 43-point lead at quarter-time, 8.2 to 1.1. Two of Gisborne’s goals were monster kicks from Tim Walsh, who made the most of his release into the midfield.

Kangaroo Flat cut the margin to 14 points at half-time, before the Bulldogs finished the game with nine goals to five in the second half to notch their sixth victory and finish sixth.

Midfielders Messaoudi (two goals), Tom May and Casey Summerfield were exceptional for the Bulldogs, while Hamish Govan kicked three goals off a wing.

Backman Matt Wiegard, wingman Ash Benbow and onballers Mitch Hough and Corey Greer were the best for the Roos, who had Tom Ferguson and Simon Davies each kick three goals. The Roos finish eighth at 6-12.