The once-promising AFL career of Harley Bennell has come to an end, with the Melbourne midfielder announcing his retirement on social media.

The former No.2 draft pick has called time on a rollercoaster 88-game career, which began in 2011 at Gold Coast.

Posting a photo on Instagram of himself in a jumper at all three of his AFL clubs – the Suns, Fremantle and the Demons – Bennell said it had been the “best 10 years of my life”.

“Thank you to everyone that was involved. It was an awesome ride,” Bennell wrote.

It comes after Bennell was this month banned for four matches and Melbourne fined $50,000 after he breached the AFL’s coronavirus protocols.

The 27-year-old left the Demons’ hub on the Sunshine Coast to “visit an unauthorised residence without approval to do so”.

Bennell appeared set to earn a new contract with the club before the indiscretion after playing five games in his first season at Melbourne.

Injuries kept him to just two games in a four-year stint at Fremantle and he departed the Dockers in July 2019.

Melbourne acknowledged Bennell’s retirement, posting on social media: “Wishing you all the best for the future, Harley”.

Bennell played his best football at the Suns, enjoying a breakout season in 2012 when he finished second in the club’s best-and-fairest behind Gary Ablett Jnr.

Disciplinary issues saw him fall out-of-favour at Gold Coast and he was traded to Fremantle at the end of the 2015 season.