There were no tears when Wendell Sailor announced his retirement from rugby league at St George Leagues Club yesterday.There was merely a contented man ready to move to the next phase of his life.The 35-year-old said he had accepted his time on the field had finished and would take new off-field roles that would make use of his profile within the game.
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Listen to Sailor announce his retirement Say farewell to Dell: CLICK HERE and post a message POLL: Should Sailor have played for one more year? Wayne Bennett: Wendell will be missed Flanked by St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust and coach Wayne Bennett, Sailor said the time was right to draw the curtain on his football career."It's a very tough day for me," he said."We have come to the decision that it's time for me to hang up the boots."That was when the tears might have flowed but Sailor knew he had been beating father time for too long."When you have players like (Brett) Morris and (Jason) Nightingale it was time to stand aside," he said."I have had a great opportunity and a great time of it but it's time to let the young guys do their thing."I just love the game. I love what it has given me through my career. I have seen the world." WIN Stadium to miss second half of NRL season The decision had been made two weeks ago with his wife, Tara. Children Tristan, 11, and Matissa, 6, were told but the future had to be planned before Sailor made his retirement public.He will not be lost to rugby league or the Dragons and will take up an ambassadorial role within the club's Red V membership and their community activities. He has also secured a position with the NRL.Sailor will continue media commitments with the Nine Network and in radio.After 222 NRL games - 33 of those with the Dragons after returning from a two-year ban for testing positive to cocaine while playing rugby union - Sailor had nothing to left to prove. He was a four-time premiership player with the Brisbane Broncos and a dual international, but in true Sailor fashion he wants a last curtain call in the Indigenous All-Stars game at Skilled Park on February 13. "If I'm as popular as I think I am, I'll still train with the Dragons on (November) 23rd and hopefully the Indigenous All-Stars will be my last game," Sailor said. "I couldn't think of a better way to go out. "So everyone, just vote for me - I haven't voted for myself yet but I might even do that. "It would be a nice way to go out, because I don't want to go out like I did losing against the Broncos (in the finals)."Sailor has never been far from the headlines, with Bennett labelling him "the last great character of the game" yesterday.He started his career on Brisbane's bench when they won the 1993 premiership and played in other three title wins before moving to rugby union in 2002.He was the player of the tournament in the 2000 rugby league World Cup and was man of the match with two tries in the 40-12 final win against New Zealand at Old Trafford."That was probably his finest game," Bennett said. Sailor played in another World Cup final, this time in rugby union in 2003, a sport he left in disgrace after testing positive to cocaine three years later.The two-year ban defined Sailor in many ways. The party boy became a man working within the community before deciding he had unfinished business in rugby league."With six months to go (of the ban) I said to Wayne and Tara, 'I don't know if I can do this, I don't know if I'm that good and if I can still play'," Sailor said."They said, 'if you don't come back and play you will probably never forgive yourself' ... and it was true."The fear of failure inspired me to come back but it was also holding me back."Thrown a lifeline by the Dragons, Sailor proved the doubters wrong with two strong seasons. "Redemption has happened for me on and off the field," he said. But Doust best summed up Sailor's time with St George Illawarra, where he was a fan favourite."His enthusiasm, his ... good nature and his support of our football and community activities has been second to none."He is a remarkable person, a remarkable individual and he has been great for the sport of rugby league and sport generally."
