Premiership-winning Sydney defender Martin Mattner has announced his immediate retirement from the AFL due to a degenerative hip injury.

Mattner, 30, played 222 AFL games, 98 for Adelaide and 124 for Sydney, who he won a flag with last year.

He played the first seven games of this season, the last of which was against Hawthorn in mid-May.

“While it has been tough to finally make the decision to retire, it has actually been pretty simple in the end,” Mattner said on Thursday.

“I have been managing injuries for a long time and was hopeful that I could get through the remainder of the season, but my body is now telling me that this is the best option.”