The 2022 departure lounge: Thanks, farewell, and best of luck in retirement

By Tony / Roar Guru

Every season marks the end of the road for some NRL players, many of them legends of the game, while others are battlers who fought their way into the top grade. Retirement is never an easy decision, not every player gets a fairy tale ending, and many don’t get to choose when and how they retire.

Here’s a brief rundown on the NRL and former NRL players who have retired from the big time this year. The player’s age is in brackets.

Lachlan Burr (30)

Burr is one of those players who was never a star but who persisted with his career to notch up just over 70 games in the NRL and 31 in the UK, primarily with Leigh Centurions in the RFL championship.

After representing NSW at both under 16 and under 18 level, he made his NRL debut for Canterbury in 2013, but that was his only first grade game for the club. A big, willing middle forward, Burr’s best years were with the Warriors in 2019 and 2020, where he alternated between the bench and the run-on side.

He followed Todd Payton to the Cowboys in 2021 but retired at the beginning of the 2022 season due to injury.

Andrew Fifita (33)

The Wests Tigers have let some very good players slip through their fingers over the years but not many as costly as front row giant Andrew Fifita.

Remarkably, Fifita began life as a lightweight outside back, but had grown somewhat and transitioned to the front row by the time he made his first grade debut for the Tigers as a 20-year-old in 2010. He left the Tigers to join the Sharks in 2012 after a falling out with coach Tim Sheens, and he never looked back, going on to play 213 games for Cronulla, 10 Origins for NSW, seven Tests for Australia and 10 Tests for Tonga.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

He’ll always be remembered for scoring “that try” in the Sharks grand final victory in 2016, and also the way that he was robbed of the Clive Churchill Medal in the same game by petty administrators.

A Cronulla legend!

Josh Jackson (31)

When you think Canterbury, you think Josh Jackson, and the club just won’t quite be the same following his retirement. Jackson came to the Bulldogs from Gulgong via Newcastle, to the Knights’ regret. He made his first grade debut for Canterbury in Round 12 of the 2012 season and has been there ever since.

He has been the backbone of the team during a very difficult period for the Bulldogs since being handed the captaincy in 2018, and has never taken a backward step while wearing the blue and white.

While premiership glory eluded him, Jackson can be proud of the fact that he played twice for his country as well as nine Origins for NSW, and he will go down as one of the Bulldogs’ best players of the NRL era.

Ryan James (31)

James had a pretty impressive junior career, including Australian Schoolboy representation, and made his debut for the Titans in 2010 at the age of 19. The big forward was well established in their top side the following year, with only some major injuries limiting his appearances for the over the next few years.

He joined Canberra in 2021, and also spent time with both Canterbury and the Broncos, but injuries unfortunately dogged him, and he was never able to recapture his best form.

Andrew McCullough (32)

For so long a Broncos legend, McCullough parted ways with the club midway through the 2020 season after losing his place in Anthony Seibold’s team. Stints with both Newcastle and St George-Illawarra over the next three years never saw him recapture his best form though, as both age and injuries began to catch up with him.

McCullough probably topped the tackle count in every one of his 309 first grade appearances, and he was one of the best hooker/forwards in the game in his earlier days with Brisbane. Perennially stuck behind Cameron Smith for higher representative honours, McCullough did manage four Origins for his state, and can probably consider himself unlucky to never wear the green and gold.

David Mead (33)

Mead notched up 230 games in his 10-year career, principally on the wing, but was also a very good fullback and centre. Mead had more than his fair share of pace together with great footwork and positional play, and he certainly knew the way to the try line, crossing for nearly 120 tries in his career.

Perhaps his greatest achievement, though, is representing his country, PNG, at three World Cups, and captaining the Kumuls in their 2017 campaign, where they won three of their four games.

Matt Prior (35)

Hailing from the famous Thirroul Butchers club, Prior was a St George Illawarra junior and debuted for the club in 2006, going on to play off the bench in their 2010 premiership-winning team. There was nothing flashy about Prior, but he loved taking the hard runs, and controlling the middle of the ruck in defence.

He was a versatile forward and even played 18 games at centre for the Dragons under coach Wayne Bennett.

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Prior moved down the road to the Sharks in 2014, where he won another premiership two years later, and he was playing well enough in 2018 to be called up for his first, and only, Origin game for NSW. He spent the last three years of his career with the Leeds Rhinos and was part of their Challenge Cup-winning team in 2020.

James Roberts (29)

Roberts will go down in many people’s eyes as a player who had a lot of natural talent, but not enough self-discipline to make the best of it. He made his first grade debut with Souths in 2011 at the age of 19 , but was released by the club the following year for disciplinary reasons, a fate he suffered again a year later at his new club in Penrith.

Trouble also followed him in his spells with both the Titans and the Broncos, but he managed to put some consistent form together in 2018, resulting in his NSW selection for all three games of the Origin series that year.

James Roberts of the Tigers (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

He returned to Souths in 2019 and finished his career with two years at the Tigers in 2021 and 2022. Jimmy the Jet could have been a champion.

Korbin Sims (30)

Sims hails from the NSW South Coast and is the youngest of four siblings who have notched up over 800 top-level games between them. A big and mobile forward, Sims began his career strongly after debuting for Newcastle in 2013, and by 2015 was on the cusp of Queensland Origin selection.

He had a two-year stint with the Broncos in 2017 and 2018, before joining elder brother Tariq at the Dragons for two years in 2019. A spell with Hull Kingston Rovers in the ESL was his next move, and his last game at the top level was Fiji’s quarter-final loss to NZ in the 2022 World Cup.

Ashley Taylor (27)

If you’re compiling a team made up of enigmatic players, then Ashley Taylor is one of the first picked.

Taylor was a prodigious junior talent, signed by the Broncos before he reached his teens, represented both the Junior Kangaroos and the Queensland under 20 team, and was named as the Holden Cup Player of the Year in 2015. He made his first grade debut for the Broncos in the final round that year but left the field injured before half-time, and that was his only top grade game for Brisbane, as they granted him a release to join the Titans in 2016.

He began well at the at the Gold Coast, and even helped them sneak into the finals, and then a year later the Titans re-signed him on a multimillion-dollar contract. It’s history now that Taylor never lived up to his price tag and found himself in and out of first grade before being released at the end of 2021, joined the Warriors on a train and trial contract in 2022, and then retired after just one game for his new club.

(Photo by Jason O’Brien/Getty Images)

Corey Thompson (32)

If there was an award for the most underrated player in the NRL in the last five years then Corey Thompson would be a strong contender. I can’t remember the little winger ever playing a bad game, or a game in which he didn’t give 100 per cent for his team, and yet the only representative jersey he ever received came in 2021 when he was selected in the Indigenous All Stars team.

Thompson played 180 first grade games in his career, including a stint with the Widnes Vikings in the ESL, where he scored 41 tries in 58 games.

Aiden Tolman (34)

If you wanted a forward to deliver to his same high standard performance week in and week out, then Tolman’s your man. He notched up over 300 games in his 15-year, three-club career, and never once shirked his share of the workload, whether it be taking the ball up into the opposition defence or making the hard tackles.

There have been many worse front rowers than Tolman represent both NSW and Australia over the years but his only representative recognition came in his three games for NSW Country. A much underrated player.

By my count, these 12 players have notched up some 46 Tests, 27 State of Origins, and 2580 first grade games between them. That’s a hell of a lot of experience about to leave the game.

Time to hand over to the next generation to see what they can achieve.

The Crowd Says:

AUTHOR

2022-11-20T10:00:10+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Hey Mono. The key is to know when to fold them. :happy:

2022-11-20T09:53:46+00:00

Monorchid

Roar Rookie


The salient point for me is the age of these blokes. And they would have all suffered pretty awful injuries during their careers and still kept going. Good on them. I never played at anywhere near their level, and I recall jogging around my local park one night at Shaw Road, Kalinga, Brisbane, when I was 34 thinking - I can't do this anymore. Still, I sought solace at the nearby Edinburgh Castle Hotel. It didn't help.

2022-11-19T09:12:23+00:00

Panthers

Guest


Fair enough. I was looking at the favourite player being James. Still worthy of a comment, as he wasn’t a good guy as a player.

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T05:14:19+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


We were talking about McCullough :happy:

2022-11-19T04:35:13+00:00

Phil

Roar Rookie


Yeah, by the time he was leaving the Titans his career was as good as over, hobbled by too many injuries.

2022-11-19T04:10:19+00:00

Panthers

Guest


Not so fast there! Ryan James hit RCG late in the back & broke his vertebrae . While RCG was being held in a tackle already by other players . When RCG was playing for Penrith. It ended RCG’s season & was a cheap shot.

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T04:04:00+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


I was pretty impressed with James early in his career, but he faded once he left the Titans, and injuries didn't help

2022-11-19T03:39:01+00:00

Phil

Roar Rookie


One of my favourite players was Ryan James. He won me over in his debut game against Manly standing up to Josh Perry who was trying to give an old fashioned initiation, welcome to first grade.

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T03:37:36+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Yes, he's always had a reputation as one of the good guys

2022-11-19T03:23:21+00:00

Relaxed and Comfortable

Guest


We had the pleasure of being neighbours to Andrew McCullough and his little family during this year. As oldies navigating our way in the world post- Covid you couldn’t meet a nicer young fellow. A testament to his parents and coaches and we wish him every success in the future.

2022-11-19T03:12:24+00:00

Red Rob

Roar Rookie


Too many, my Dr says I gotta cut back.

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T02:47:36+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Roberts would have to be a clear favourite

2022-11-19T02:39:36+00:00

R N

Roar Rookie


Really!... Thanks for clarification Mick. I never really follow the off-field stuff! However I will stand by comment about his footy at the Titans... he was consistent on the field for them. Maybe the key was to let him at it :silly: If there was a spotsbet market for first retiree of 22 being charged with felony post career what odds would you have him?

2022-11-19T01:59:08+00:00

Dionysus

Guest


Ash was the very definition of someone with great early potential only to fizzle in first grade. You kep't waiting for him to come good but he never did. Such a waste. Tony's description of Tolman is absolutely spot on.

2022-11-19T01:26:33+00:00

Mick

Guest


You can't be serious RN he was on the magic dust at the Titans and cruising the merky nightclubs and GC strip that's why there was concerns (off the record) at the Broncos when Wayne signed him and why the Titans were so ticked off with him leaving having stuck by him.. his career was always gonna go up in smoke.. he stated well at the Broncos but the old habits came back Wayne looked the other way Siebold didn't and that's why he fell out with seibold and some younger guys at the club and left after that Wayne took him back and he started breaking down in short even if he stayed in Titans colours.. he wouldn't of had a better career he had no self control.. sadly

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T01:09:00+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Haha...how many Texas BBQ forums are you on Rob?

2022-11-19T00:43:19+00:00

Red Rob

Roar Rookie


caught sniffing around some expensive half back cattle :laughing: Those words would only make sense on an NRL or Texas BBQ forum

AUTHOR

2022-11-19T00:17:46+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Yes, Roberts is just one of those guys who largely slipped through the tracks for whatever reason. All that natural ability and speed to burn and very little to show for it.

2022-11-18T23:28:36+00:00

R N

Roar Rookie


Good luck in retirement gentleman. Some good payers there. I thought Roberts was really good at the Titans... was playing well, seemed involved and happy and then something weird happened with his manager or contract!? I can't really recall, but I think his career would have panned out better if remained there ! I understand how wild that last statement is! :)

AUTHOR

2022-11-18T22:53:35+00:00

Tony

Roar Guru


Good old Gus :happy:

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