Dowie is near-certain to hang up the boots at the end of the Warrnambool and District league season, having received confirmation of a heart condition which has sidelined him for a month.

But the popular spearhead has unfinished business first. The Tigers are closing in on back-to-back flags and he’s keen to play his role.

His decision to retire comes amid a career-best season. He is 29, has dropped more than 10 kilograms in 12 months and is the fittest he’s been in years.

But with the potential consequences of playing on with the condition – hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – clear in his mind, the father-of-one is content with his choice.

“There are too many other things more important than footy,” Dowie said.

“I’d love to keep going and try and play another three or four more years but it’s looking like it’s not going to happen. Hopefully just two more games and we can win them both and we’ll be right.”

Those games are the WDFNL second semi-final against Dennington on Saturday and, if all goes to plan, the grand final a fortnight later.

The semi will represent his first match since he kicked his 101^st goal against Panmure in round 15.

“I had a few heart palpitations every now and again, which is common in lots of people. I used to get buggered pretty easy, get cramps which I put down to missing two years of footy and being unfit,” he said.

“This year I got fitter and started questioning why I was still cramping and still getting buggered. My partner is a nurse so I got some blood tests done. I had an ECG (electrocardiogram) and it’s gone from there.”

The diagnosis came back as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or the thickening of the heart’s muscular wall. As a result, the heart is limited in its ability to pump blood around the body.

His father Charlie died from a heart condition when Dowie was three, so determining if there was a link was a priority.

“I was going to play on Saturday until about 11 o’clock in the morning but the advice from doctors said ‘not just yet’,” he said.

“I was waiting on my dad’s Coroner’s report to see if there was any link between his death and what I had. That was the key factor. There’s no direct link, there have been some good things come out of that.”

But the risk of playing beyond this season was too great.

“It’s not a degenerative thing or anything like that. There is a risk of cardiac arrest from intensive activity but it’s pretty low,” he said.

“Normally you are advised to stop all sports but my stress tests have been pretty good, that’s been good.

“I’ll play hopefully just two more games and that’ll be it.”