WITH the end of the season now in sight, many players are preparing for a play-off push, while many others are making big decisions about where their future lies.
As with all seasons, some big names in the game have decided that this will be their last in the professional ranks, and some others have already played their final matches in 2024.
Here, Rugby League World looks at some of those players we are saying goodbye to this year.
NATHAN MASSEY
Former Castleford Tigers favourite Nathan Massey perhaps didn’t get the send off he’d have hoped for, and perhaps deserved, after a career that spanned almost 20 years. Fresh from a 19-year stay at the Jungle that began as a teenager in the Academy, Massey joined near-neighbours Featherstone Rovers ahead of this season. But after struggling with injuries and playing just seven games for Rovers, the final one being against Halifax on 14th July, the 35-year-old announced his immediate retirement from the game in mid-August.
JIMMY KEINHORST
The Germany international is another player who has already hung up his boots in 2024, playing his final game for York against Dewsbury on Sunday, 11th August. After 13-years as a professional player, 34-year-old Keinhorst began to think about a post-playing career and started training as a train driver in March. It was that work as a trainee that prompted the former Leeds and Hull KR centre or forward to decide to switch all his focus to the new role and bring the curtain down on his time in the game.
LUKE GALE
Former Leeds, Bradford, Castleford, Hull FC, Harlequins and Doncaster half back Luke Gale is going out with a bang having already enjoyed a Wembley win and a table-topping season in his final year in the game. Now at Wakefield, whom he suffered relegation with last year after a mid-season move from Keighley, Gale was a big part of Trinity’s 1895 Cup win in the capital, has lifted the League Leaders’ Shield and will be hoping to make it a treble with the Championship Grand Final Trophy in October. Not really a bad haul to go out with.
DANNY HOUGHTON
HULL FC’s one club man and current captain Danny Houghton will call time on his career after the visit of Catalans Dragons signals the end of the Black and Whites’ season. Thought of one of the best hookers of his generation, tough-tackling Houghton leaves the game as a former Man of Steel winner and back-to-back Challenge Cup winner. Since making his debut against Harlequins in July 2007, the 35-year-old Academy product has gone on to make over 450 appearances for the Hull club.
CARL FORBER
Having moved to Cumbria and making Workington his home, Carl Forber has finally made the decision to retire at the age of 39. A member of the club’s Hall of Fame and their all-time leading points scorer, Forber will certainly never be forgotten by the Town faithful, who have had the pleasure of watching him for the best part of 18 years. Forber first joined the club in 2007 and stayed for three seasons before having short spells with Blackpool, Swinton and Oldham. He returned in 2012 and the rest, as they say, is history.
SHAUN JOHNSON
England fans may still not yet have forgiven him for his late try in the 2013 World Cup semi-final, but they will appreciate the talents of Shaun Johnson, who has now played the final game of his career. Apart from a three-year spell with Cronulla Sharks, the Kiwi international half-back spent the rest of his career with his native New Zealand Warriors. Those two sides met in Johnson’s final game and he inspired the Warriors to fight back from 22-4 down, with his pass in the final minutes setting up the winning try in a 28-30 win.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 501 (October 2024)
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