Greg Bird confirms he will retire at season’s end

Catalans star Greg Bird has confirmed he will hang up his boots at the end of the campaign.

The 35-year-old will play the rest of the season with the Dragons, before closing the curtain on an 18-year playing career.

Bird has made more than 300 career appearances for Cronulla Sharks, Gold Coast Titans and Catalans Dragons, scoring more than 60 tries.

The loose forward earned 17 caps for Australia and played 18 times for New South Wales at Origin level.

On his instagram, Bird posted: “For such a long time rugby league has been the main focus on my life.

“I’m happy and proud to say finally my time as a player will come to a conclusion at the end of this season.

“I’m honoured to have played the game I love as a job for 18 years and I’d like to thank Cronulla Sharks, Gold Coast Titans and Catalans Dragons for that chance.

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For such a long time Rugby League has been the main focus of my life. From a kid walking to training for West Maitland from school, being lugged around the country by my parents for Knights camps and junior reps, to finally reaching my dream of grade at 18 for the Sharks. I'm happy and proud to say finally my time as a player will come to a conclusion at the end of this season. I'm honoured to have played the game I love as a job for 18 years and I'd like to thank @cronullasharks @gctitans and @dragonsofficiel for that chance. To all my team mates and coaches who have helped shape the person and player that I became through my career, thankyou. Without your influence I wouldn't have had the opportunity to reach the heights that I did and I've tried to pass on that knowledge the best I could over the years. I feel incredibly blessed to have shared the field with so many legends of our game. It's such a strange feeling. Retirement wasnt something I thought I'd consider while I was still comfortable in the way I was performing. Im in no way finished in my aspirations for our current season and I have my goals firmly set on going out a winner with my Catalan Dragons brothers, but it's clicked for me and the time is definately right. I've always tried to play every game with all the intent and emotion that I possessed and do whatever it took to win. My style together with hardwork has provided me the tools to achieve everything I could ever ask for, but brought with it a lot of criticism and suspension. I'd like to think considering everything, I've always stayed true to myself. Now all my passion and focus will be directed at my greatest loves- my wife Becky and 2 girls Finley and Eve, and into our future. Thankyou the most for bringing balance to my life. The love and support you've shown I'm forever grateful and bring on the next adventure. Finally thanks to my fans and all the fans of our great game. You build the atmosphere in the stadiums and your support creates the platform in which we can go out and play the game we love for a living. ? #Cronulla339 #GoldCoast52 #Catalans52 #NSW206 #AUS743 #Indiginous15 #CuddlesAllRound

A post shared by Greg Bird (@birdman_13) on Jun 7, 2019 at 2:11am PDT

“It’s such a strange feeling. Retirement wasn’t something I thought I’d consider while I was still comfortable in the way I was performing. I’m in no way finished in my aspirations for our current season and I have my goals firmly set on going out a winner with my Catalans Dragons brothers, but it’s clicked for me and the time is definitely right.

“Finally thanks to my fans and all the fans of our great game. You build the atmosphere in the stadiums and your support creates the platform in which we can go out and play the game we love for a living.”

Bird won the 2011 Four Nations and 2013 World Cup with the Kangaroos, the 2014 State of Origin with the Blues and the Challenge Cup last year with the Dragons.

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