There are plenty of things Nick Riewoldt will miss in retirement, but one thing he won’t miss is the anxiety that comes with playing at the highest level.

While he has entrenched himself as one of the greatest forwards in the modern era and one of the best players to ever play for St Kilda, he has been driven by a fear of failure.

And even on the morning of his final game on Sunday, the 34-year-old woke up feeling anxious, knowing he had to go out and perform one last time before his glorious career came to an end.

“I woke up really anxious today because it was another opportunity to go out and perform and either enhance your reputation or diminish it,” Riewoldt told saints.com.au after Sunday’s loss to Richmond at the MCG.

“I won’t miss the anxiety around game day.

“Even today I said to Cath, ‘I wish I could just bottle this feeling of anxiousness and take a little sip whenever I’m missing the game’ because that’s something that I won’t miss.

“It’s something to endure not really enjoy.

“It’s just something in the pit of your stomach that knows you need to go out and give great effort for two hours and there are no guarantees when you do that you’re going to get the results that you want.

“It’s just the feeling around the judgment that comes with that and anything short of perfection and performing really strongly is not something that’s sat well with me, so it’s just an anxiety around potentially not doing that.”

17 years and 336 games have passed since St Kilda read out Riewoldt’s name with the first selection in the 2000 National Draft, in a life altering decision for both Riewoldt and St Kilda.