WHEN Emily Rudge came off the bench in Saturday’s 68-6 Challenge Cup quarter-final win over Barrow, it marked her 100th appearance for St Helens.
The secondrower has been an integral part of the club since joining them from Thatto Heath ahead of their first season in Super League, and has scored 51 tries in her century of appearances.
The question remains though as to how many more times she will run out for the Red Vee, with retirement something the 34-year-old admits she is thinking about.
For now she remains focused on the job in hand – bringing some silverware back to St Helens after missing out on both league trophies so narrowly last season.
“I’ve thought about it (retirement) and I’m just going to see how the season goes,” said the former England captain.
“It’s definitely on my mind, because me and Jodie (Cunningham) are both 34 now and at that sort of that age where you do start to think about it, so we’ll just see how it goes.
“My focus for now is just to play well for Saints, have a really good season with them and win some silverware.
“It was neck and neck for the League Leaders’ Shield last year and the Grand Final was really close as well, so it did feel like we just fell short at each of those hurdles.
“But we’ll be there again this year and hopefully turn it around.”
Rudge features in Rugby League World’s 20 Questions in the latest issue, available now. Get your copy here.