WHITEHAVEN prop Marc Shackley is hoping to head into retirement on the back of Championship play-off involvement.

The 37-year-old stalwart of the West Cumbrian Rugby League scene is fresh from making a 250th career appearance, with 140 of them for Workington Town.

Now Shackley, who started a third stint with hometown club Whitehaven ahead of this season after a four-year absence from the game, has confirmed he will hang up his boots at the end of the campaign.

The former Warrington Wolves Academy player, who made his senior debut with Whitehaven in 2008, stepped away from Rugby League in 2021 due to knee issues.

He was later handed a four-year ban by UK Anti-Doping after testing positive for clenbuterol, which he admitted to taking as a weight-loss aid ahead of knee surgery, mistakenly believing UKAD lacked jurisdiction over retired players.

The suspension expired on October 7 last year, and he then began another spell at Whitehaven, with whom he won promotion from League One under Gary Charlton in 2019.

Shackley, promoted from Championship One with Workington under Charlton and Martin Oglanby in 2012, said: “I’m grateful to Whitehaven for giving me the opportunity to play this season and finish on my terms.

“When I returned, I thought ten games would be good going, so to reach the 14 I needed for the 250 is a big thing for me, and to have the chance to to help us push for a play-off place is great.”

James Newton’s Whitehaven made it four wins running by triumphing 24-22 at Rochdale in Shackley’s milestone match.

“The lads are buying in to how Newts does things, we’ve been building some confidence, and we’ve been looking like a team who are hard to beat and are always ready to have a dig,” he added.