NO REGRETS

BLACKHAWKS FORWARD RETIRES FROM LEAGUE

SIONE Lousi has achieved more in his rugby league career than he could have hoped.

But it is the little moments Lousi has missed in the past 12 months that led him to call time on his career.

The Blackhawks prop announced to his teammates before their elimination final loss on Sunday that he would be retiring at season’s end.

He will finish with 68 appearances for the club, 50 NRL appearances and a legacy in his favourite No.22 jersey.

While he was determined to not end his playing days until he had helped deliver Townsville a maiden

Queensland Cup title, Lousi said the birth of his daughter, Remi, last October changed his scope.

Missing small highlights of her life while being on the road for games struck a chord with the 31-year-old.

And as his body started to feel the sting of more than a decade in top line football he said the timing felt right to kickstart his next chapter.

“I want to be at home now, plus the old body has had enough now,” Lousi said.

“It’s hard leaving her for games and trainings . . . (and) I think it’s just missing out on those little moments.

“My partner would send me stuff with what she’s doing and I would think, ‘ damn I missed that’.

“She started walking a couple of weeks ago . . . she took a couple of steps when I was at home but not as much when I was seeing the videos. That was the main one I was gutted I wasn’t there for.

“Those little moments watching them grow, I’ve never had that before and this was my first full season with it. It was pretty challenging.”

Lousi looks back on his time with the Steeden humbled by what he had achieved.

Initially he was determined to play one game in the NRL. He would play 50 for the New Zealand Warriors and an international game for Tonga.

It is why Lousi said he did not think he would suffer from itchy feet once the Blackhawks returned to pre-season training, having never been much of a fan of those long summer sessions anyway.

But while he does not regret anything in his career, he admitted there are some things he wished he could have achieved.

It was when Lousi’s time with the Warriors ended in 2016 that he moved to Townsville, where he would meet his now wife – former Northern Rays vice-captain and Samoa Netball World Cup representative Brooke Williams.

However, he said initially he relocated to North Queensland in a bid to resurrect his NRL career, something he was never able to achieve.

“The main one wasn’t getting back into the NRL; that was a big factor with why I came up to Townsville. I came up here and broke my arm in the first game and thought it just wasn’t meant to be,” Lousi said. “I tried my best at the time but I just fell away, and I think that was one of the little regrets.

“Maybe not a regret, but just a sad thing that I couldn’t make my way back into the

NRL. But I’m happy with how my life is, everything lined up and I wouldn’t change it.

“Injuries played a big part in my career, that’s not something I can control, but other than those little setbacks in my career I’m stoked with how many games I got to play in the NRL.”

Lousi donned the Blackhawks colours for the last time in the 30-24 loss to Souths Logan, ending his hopes of retiring with a title. But the veteran forward said the club’s elusive triumph was close.

While he would not be a part of that moment if and when it happened, he said the young talent the club had fostered would ensure the future was bright.

“I honestly thought this year was going to be our year. I thought we were going to go all the way and unfortunately we fell short again,” Lousi said.

“That made it tough, all the people that started Blackhawks and have been around the Blackhawks I wanted to bring in a premiership for before I departed. That (the loss to Souths Logan) was not the way I wanted it to end.”