League: Sam Thaiday announces retirement from rugby league in bizarre fashion

Sam Thaiday. Photo / Getty

Almost 16 seasons in the NRL have left Sam Thaiday feeling "old, sore, tired and definitely balding."

So at the end of the 2018 season, the Brisbane Broncos forward will hang up his boots once and for all.

The 33-year-old announced his retirement in true Thaiday fashion in a hilarious press conference held at a retirement home.

Dressed in old man makeup, Thaiday said it was a "true reflection of how I've been feeling over the last couple of seasons."

Thaiday has played 294 matches in the NRL - all for the Broncos - and is on track to bring up his 300th match in the league in the Queensland derby against the North Queensland Cowboys in round 22.

In 2006, he received his first call up for representative duties - donning both the Australian and Queensland jerseys - and remained a constant fixture in both sides until 2017.

He won a World Cup title with Australia in 2013, and was part of the Queensland squad that won eight straight State of Origin titles from 2006 to 2013.