Wakefield forward Scott Anderson plays his final game as a professional tonight: and admits it is a daunting prospect knowing his career will be over come 10pm.
Anderson will line up for Wakefield tonight as they travel to St Helens, with the curtain coming down on his career immediately after that match.
The 30-year-old announced recently that he would return home to Australia at the end of this year having opted to call it a day with Trinity, and he told TotalRL that it’s a scary prospect knowing he won’t play again after tonight.
“It’s pretty daunting to be honest,” he admits.
“Rugby league is all I’ve known and to think about it being my last game as a Super League or even a professional player is scary.
“It’s emotional, especially leading up to the game knowing it’s your training session, the last team run and the last time you talk to a certain team-mate, so it’s emotional for me at the moment.”
And although he admitted it would be nice to play on in 2017 and potentially beyond, he felt now was the right time to call it a day.
“It would be good to have a couple more years here but there’s some things happening in the family and there’s some young family which mean I’d prefer to be back home.
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“The last couple of years in terms of injuries have been a bit frustrating so I just thought it felt like the right time to finish.
“I definitely thought my body was starting to tell me it was time to finish and that it needed a break. Every rugby league player knows their body well and that weighed on my decision – as well as going home to see family and things like that. It’s a tough decision, really tough, because rugby league is all I’ve known. It’s been quite tough to deal with.
“It was a tough decision, I’m not going to lie about that. It’s tough being an Australian over here and not having family with you, so it’ll be good to get back home and spend time with my family once again.”
But Anderson insists that he believes he is leaving Wakefield in a healthier state than when he arrived, after their best season in years this year following a Challenge Cup semi-final and a spot in the Super League Super 8s.
He says: “When we went on that six or seven-game winning streak, it was a real high point for us. Where we got to by winning those games, the top eight, we’ve done really well this year and hopefully we can win this weekend and go out on a high.
“I think I’m leaving the club in a positive way. We made the top eight this year, all the staff we got in have done a real good job and the playing roster is stronger than it has been in the past in my opinion.
“We’ve had some injuries of late but we’ve got some young players coming through and supplementing that. Who knows what could happen next year – the club will keep building.”
