This morning senior coach Alan Richardson paid tribute to retiring forward Adam Schneider who will play his 228^th and final AFL game this Sunday.

This year we had no idea that Schneids would play as much footy as he has ended up playing. The conditions were that we needed him to be a coach as much as a player. The reality was, particularly when Rooey was out of the team, that we needed some experience.

He has done a terrific role for us. His ability to be able to play and still have impact has been great. The work he has done with the players from a mentoring point of view away from the field of battle has also been really strong. He’s an outstanding person and he’s going to be a really good coach. We’ll miss him but because he’s done such a good job, the young blokes are ready to go and take his spot. It’s almost as simple as that.

Schneids’ balance, even though I’ve only been with him for two years, is terrific. He’s a very competitive person and he sets a great example with the way he competes on game day. He’s a leader of the banter in the locker room. The Schneiderman stuff is pretty typical of Adam. He’s been positive for a long time, but this year his committed to make those younger forwards come along and he’s done a good job.

We want to perform strongly for him and us. I think he’s pretty excited. He’s been keen to get back in for a while but we’ve had to hold him back. He’s looking forward to the game. 

Round 22 match day info: St Kilda vs Sydney