Ex-NRL star Greg Inglis to play for hometown team Macksville Sea Eagles

[R L Winger]

Rugby league great Greg Inglis will return to his hometown on the NSW Mid North Coast to play for the team that helped him start his illustrious career. 

The former South Sydney Rabbitohs star will play for the Macksville Sea Eagles in the Group 2 Rugby League Season in 2022.

President of the Sea Eagles, Dean Hillery, said there were no negotiations to secure Inglis, but rather it was a long held assumption he would return to play on the team as his father did in the 1990s. "I think it's always been a goal of Greg's to finish his career where he started at Macksville," Mr Hillery said. 

"It's just something that he's always wanted to do."

Chief executive of Group 2 Rugby League, Jim Anderson, said the return of Inglis to Macksville is "all pluses all round". 

"He's been a very successful rugby league player and he's very prominent in society around Macksville," Mr Anderson said. "It will boost the interest in rugby league and promote the game tremendously."

Mr Anderson expected Inglis would attract more players to the competition and pointed to the boost in the competition on the NSW North Coast when former Parramatta Eels player Danny Wicks played for the Grafton Ghosts. 

"I think there will be players flocking to Macksville to have a run for him," Mr Anderson said. 

The 34-year-old has recently returned from the UK where he played for Warrington Wolves in the Super League.

Like his father, Inglis also played for the Macksville Sea Eagles as a child. 

Inglis' career was kick-started when a Melbourne Storm scout spotted him playing for the Sea Eagles at the age of 15.

He made his debut with Melbourne Storm in 2005 before going on to play 147 games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, including playing in the team that won the NRL Premiership in 2014.