'Gorgeous' George Rose and the end of an era

As the game advances, and interchanges reduce, we celebrate the career of ‘Gorgeous’ George Rose and the end of an era.

‘Gorgeous’ George is among the game’s biggest and most loved characters. His career has spanned the Roosters (2004-5), Manly (2006-10), Storm (2014) and Dragons (2015), and coincided with lasting changes to how the game was played.

Rose debuted among props averaging under 105 kilograms. While today’s average props have added five kilograms, the total number of players above 100 kilograms has surged. Sheer physicality means less in an age when early hit-ups are taken by wingers such as Manu Vatuvei, Jorge Taufua or Semi Radradra playing well above 100 kilograms.

While the total number of offloads has actually declined since 2004 (24 to 18), influential players such James Graham, Adam Cuthbertson (now Super League Man of Steel) and Feleti Mateo exemplify a level of ball-playing ability simply never expected a generation ago from champions such as Shane Webcke or Petero Civoniceva.

So why has Rose become a cult figure?

“The thing is for me is that I’ve always been a footballer. I’ve never been an athlete. I just play footy, I love playing footy,” he said a few years ago.

“I reckon they look at me, and then they look down at themselves and think, ‘That’s me out there on the field. Why am I not out there?”

Rose’s peers love to play with him, and note that he’s often under-rated.

He was voted Manly’s player of the year in their troubled 2009 season. While injury cruelly denied him grand finals in both 2007 and 2008, he went on to win the World Club Challenge and and PM11 Test against Papua New Guinea in 2009.

Although listed at 116 kilograms with the Storm (after a brutal pre-season he shed eight kilograms) he’ll quietly admit to fluctuating above 125. When asked about the peptide scandal confronting the league in 2014, he replied: “Unless there is something wrong with KFC chicken, I’m pretty sweet.”

Rose is a proud indigenous Australian, and featured prominently in the Indigenous Dreamtime Team (versus New Zealand Maori in 2008) and Indigenous All-stars franchise (2010-13 and in a man of the match performance in 2015).

A Bathurst Penguins junior, Rose shares the name of his father (who passed away when he was nine) and grandfather, and is one of three brothers.

Rose showed great courage to overcome a debilitating leg injury suffered in the Round 11 clash with the Storm in 2007 that many thought would end his career. His big heart is legendary.

“He’s a funny character and has always got the humour going,” Jamie Lyon said of Rose.

“You’ve got to have that.”

On joining the Storm, Craig Bellamy echoed this.

“Characters are what make footy clubs. You need those guys and I reckon George might just be able to offer us some of that special character we’ll need next year. We reckon we’re getting a pretty good footy player, too.”

Rose was off contract after Manly 2011 grand final victory, before signing a final two-year deal.

“It’s pretty much a home for me, Manly, and it’s the place that I always wanted to stay, even before we won the grand final,” he said.

By August 2013, he was quoted as “getting the vibe” Manly would not re-sign him. He played with tremendous impact regardless. In the preliminary final against the Rabbitohs, in just 28 minutes on the field, he delivered 10 charges for 98 metres with five tackle busts and eight tackles.

After battling home sickness (and reportedly the Melbourne conditioning staff) in 2014, he requested a release on compassionate grounds and was limited to nine appearances.

Signed by St George for the 2015 season in a quest to add size to their pack, Rose had a mixed season, missing 10 games through injury, and playing out the final month with a bicep torn in the NSW Cup. St George’s last home-and-away game against the Tigers was his 150th.

“It [150 games] was something I had in my sights for a little while, so to get here and do it in Dragons colours is an absolute honour,” he told The Western Advocate’s Anya Whitelaw.

Rose debuted in a 12 interchange era. How can clubs measure his value as we drop to just eight when in his last game he produced 53 metres and a tackle break from just 13 minutes on the field?

He remains unsigned for 2016.

“I’ve been thinking about it for the last 18 months,” Rose said of his career, speaking to Fox Sports.

“I’m getting a little bit older. The body’s alright. I dread to think about a pre-season.”

In many ways, the writing is on the wall.

“I definitely couldn’t play the way I did this year with the change in interchange,” he admitted. “I’d definitely play about 10 kilos lighter just for the team’s sake.”

Perhaps. Regardless, ‘Gorgeous’ George Rose remains one of the NRL’s best-loved characters.

Some lament that if he does finally hang up the boots, his big-hearted approach and old-school physique may be lost to the game forever.