Inevitably, the game loses some of its great servants and characters every year, as age and injury catch up with them, and the competition from the game’s next generation and salary cap pressure combine to push them out of the game.
Some retire early, happy to draw their careers to a close on their own terms, while many more have that decision taken away from them as their bodies fail to recover as quickly from the week in, week out pounding that goes with the game they love.
This article pays tribute to just seven of the 20 odd NRL players to retire from the game this year, players whose careers I’ve enjoyed following for one reason or another, who leave the NRL with over 1500 top level games and some 90 seasons between them.
Aaron Woods
Woods has become more media personality than footballer in recent years as he’s wound his career down with a couple of easy seasons with Manly.
The genial giant has never come across as someone who takes himself too seriously, but that belies a career during which the big front rower played 17 Tests for his country and 14 games for NSW in the toughest part of the field, and at 194cm and 115kg, it’s unlikely that anyone but his closest friends ever called him “Sharon” on the field.
A Balmain Tigers junior, Woods became somewhat of a journeyman after beginning his career with Wests back in 2011, also spending time with Canterbury, Cronulla and St George Illawarra before finishing up lazing around on the northern beaches. Anyone who misses his big personality in the future can catch him on Sydney’s Triple M radio.
Dale Finucane
Like the Sly Stallone character John Rambo, Dale Finucane was both fearless and relentless, but perhaps those competitive traits contributed to his early retirement this year on medical advice after suffering repeated head knocks.
The big backrower was always a great team man and a leader both on and off the field, and he was a fan favourite at each of the clubs he played for during his career – Canterbury, Melbourne and Cronulla.
Looking back through Finucane’s career stats I can’t believe that he never got the opportunity to play for Australia, as there’s been a lot worse to wear the green and gold than him in the last 10 years. If you haven’t had the chance of listening to Dale Finucane singing and playing the guitar yet, do yourself a favour, as seeing him perform outside the ground at this year’s Magic Round was an absolute highlight. The man oozes talent.
Dale Finucane (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
Tyrone Peachey
Apart from his unbridled enthusiasm for the game, Peachey’s biggest asset was his versatility which enabled him to acquit himself well in almost any position on the field. Originally a Cronulla junior, Peachey’s heart was always in Penrith, and he had two stints with the club during his career.
Although he never finished with a premiership ring, he was an important part of the Panthers’ victorious squad in 2023, but a drop in form this year saw him make the decision to retire and focus on his emerging business. Tyrone Peachey was proud of his indigenous heritage and represented the Indigenous All Stars on seven occasions, and he also played three games off the bench for NSW in 2018 when they won the series under coach Brad Fittler.
Jesse Bromwich
It’s a well-worn cliché, but there’s pretty much nothing that the big front rower didn’t achieve in his career. In 15 seasons in the top grade, he won three premierships and three world Club Challenges with Melbourne, won a Four Nations title with NZ in 2014, captained NZ, Melbourne and the Dolphins, played 34 Tests for his country, and for many years was rated as the best front rower in the game.
Not bad for a young lad from Auckland who moved to Orange in country NSW as a teenager. A big man who has always been one of the fittest in the game, Bromwich intends to maintain his condition after retirement by continuing his career as a carpenter.
Brad Parker
The hard-working outside back is not as illustrious as the other players in this article, and he was never going to bring the crowd to their feet with a length of the field try, or win a game with a moment of brilliance, but he was a Manly stalwart through and through who demonstrated what can be achieved with perseverance and tenacity.
Brad Parker of the Sea Eagles runs the ball. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Parker put everything he had into the 117 games he played for the Sea Eagles in his career, but injuries finally got the better of him, resulting in his retirement at just 27 years of age. Manly won’t be the same without him.
Corey Oates
Oates is one of those players who didn’t always get the credit he deserved, and although it has to be said that he did have an error or two in him from time to time, he did manage to score some wonderful tries in his career, both for the Broncos and for Queensland.
A big man for a winger, Oates still had plenty of speed, and in his 12-year career with the Broncos he crossed for 121 tries, including 19 try doubles, four trebles and a memorable quadruple against Manly in 2018.
He finished his career in third place on the Broncos’ all time try scoring list before mounting injuries and a desire to spend more time with his family saw him hang up the boots and pursue a career in radio.
Shaun Johnson
We’ve seen many a clever, scheming halfback steering his team around in the NRL over the last decade, but we haven’t seen a devastating running halfback of the calibre of Shaun Johnson since Benji Marshall’s heyday. At his best Johnson was a brilliant off-the-cuff player who just played what was in front of him and was almost impossible to contain. It was often a matter of which way did he go.
Johnson retired as the highest Warriors’ point scorer of all time, second highest try scorer and playing the third highest number of games. He played 35 Tests for the Kiwis and is their third highest point scorer. What a career!
Thanks and well played each one of you, and the best of luck for the next chapter of your lives.
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