“Phil’s retired effective immediately,” Eagles coach Farran Priest said.
“He’s getting a bit older and he had his personal reasons.
“He’s accomplished a lot with the time he had — Phil’s a big loss.
“He’ll still be floating around helping when he can.”
The Eagles come in this weekend smarting from another hefty loss, this time at the hands of Cobram for it’s fourth defeat over 100 points this season.
United faces Mulwala in round five, a side undefeated in 2022 and coming off a strong win against Barooga.
Priest said his side would still come in with a “winning attitude.”
“I think the weather will play a part this weekend,” he said.
“Mulwala are generally a strong side inside the contest, which is where we’re trying to develop as a team.
“We’re definitely looking forward to the challenge, and we’ve got blokes stepping up into their roles.
“We’ll go over there with the attitude that we can win and go from there.”
United’s early-season run has seen it face four teams that currently sit undefeated in the league, but Priest said his side wasn’t complaining, re-affirming it would learn more from 100-point defeats than 100-point wins.
“We’ve got to play them at some stage,” Priest said.
“So as much as we can sit there and complain, there’s not much we can do.
“We’re a group that’s learning. It’s probably a really good hit in the face, just seeing where we need to get to if we want to win.”
