Interim Senior Coach Matthew Egan has praised the way Paul Chapman continued to put the team first during his last AFL match against Richmond.

The retiring three-time premiership player ended the game with 19 possessions and a game high 11 tackles.

"We spoke a fair bit during the week about 'Chappy' and we tried to make sure it wasn't about him, but we kept referencing him with the way we wanted to play and being a contested side," Egan said.

“Wanting to win the contested ball and getting it forward and giving our forwards a chance, that’s the way he’s played his whole career.

"Most of his career he's been a forward who's wanted to get on the ball. He keeps asking if he can go on-ball.

"Tonight we were probably the ones saying 'Chappy, we'd like to get you on the ball'. It's good that, in his last game, he didn't try to go and do his own thing. He played his role exactly what we wanted.

“He had his little boy Myles in the rooms and he was really happy and it’s good to see him finish in that frame of mind.”

Chapman played 280 AFL games with the last 29 at Essendon.