Mannering retires: ‘The
Simon Mannering admitted the spark was not there to push on for another year as the Warriors legend prepares to close the chapter on his illustrious career.
Mannering announced at a press conference in Auckland yesterday that he will retire at the end of the NRL season.
The former Warriors skipper, who made his debut in 2005, will make his 294th appearance for the club on Sunday against the Melbourne Storm and is on track to play his 300th game in the final round of the regular season.
The 31-year-old workhorse says he has no problem getting through the games. But when he started questioning his commitment to everything else involved with playing at the highest level he knew it was time to walk away.
‘‘I wish I could keep playing. If I could just turn up on Saturday and keep playing then I’d love to carry on and do that, but it’s not the case,’’ Mannering said.
‘‘Everyone sees the game at the weekend but it takes a lot of stuff behind the scenes to get you ready to play and I just deep down don’t think I’ve got that commitment level to carry that on for another year.
‘‘I don’t want to go half-hearted into another season. It wouldn’t be fair on my team-mates or on the club. It’s a big commitment and I just feel I’ve lost a little bit of that spark there.’’
Mannering – a five-time Warriors player of the year and club captain for six seasons from
2010 to 2015 – played 44 tests for the Kiwis between 2006 and 2017 before retiring from international football this year.
He had been contemplating walking away for good for the last
10 months and it started weighing on him these past few weeks. A desire to go out on his own terms and do what he feels is best for the club guided his decision.
‘‘It has taken a while to reach this point but I’m now comfortable with the decision I’ve finally made,’’ Mannering added.
‘‘I don’t want to be in this position of taking it for granted.
‘‘There’s a number of guys who would jump out of their skin to be there and I just don’t think I’d be doing it justice if I wasn’t getting that satisfaction out of it.’’
Mannering received an ovation from the entire club after announcing his decision alongside coach Stephen Kearney and chief executive Cameron George.
Kearney paid tribute to the veteran forward, who started his career in the centres, describing him as ‘‘the most selfless person there is’’.
‘‘He doesn’t put himself first, he puts the team first,’’ Kearney said. ‘‘That’s a quality, in terms of a footballer, that you can’t have enough of.’’
Mannering is unlikely to be lost to the Warriors completely as he looks at taking an off-field role next year.
But that can wait as he focuses all of his energy on delivering the club its maiden premiership.
‘‘I’m not going anywhere just yet,’’ Mannering said. ‘‘Obviously there’s seven more round-robin games to go so I just want to finish this year really strong and play the best footy I can for this team and see where it takes us.’’
‘‘I just deep down don’t think I’ve got that commitment level to carry that on for another year.’’
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney and forward Adam Blair say veteran Simon Mannering will be remembered as ‘‘selfless’’ above all else and the ‘‘ultimate Warrior’’.
Ironically the decision comes after the back-rower put in arguably his strongest performance of the year in last week’s win over the Broncos.
Kearney said Mannering had been a tremendous player and ‘‘an even better fella’’ during his time at the club.
‘‘I know he’s agonised over this for the last month so part of me is happy for him that he has made the decision,’’ Kearney said.
‘‘There’s a sadness there knowing that there’s a guy who, particularly over the last period, has held this footy club up.’’