League: Webcke announces retirement

Brisbane Broncos prop Shane Webcke has announced he will retire from rugby league at the end of the NRL season.

The 31-year-old made the announcement last night in Brisbane.

Webcke has played 243 first grade matches for the Broncos since making his debut in 1995 and he was an integral member of their premiership-winning teams in 1997 (Super League), 1998 and 2000.

He played 21 State of Origin matches for Queensland and earned 20 Test caps for Australia.

Webcke, whose contract expires at the end of the 2006 season, said he was satisfied with his decision to retire.

"I never felt that I was destined to be a rugby league player at a professional level," he said.

"To have had that and to have the wonderful career I've been fortunate enough to have and the experiences that have been afforded me, I thought it would be a very selfish thing to try and hold on too long."

Webcke said an ongoing knee injury had also helped him decide to retire.

"I probably wouldn't have been thinking about it at all, then I suppose with that and how sore it gets at times I started wondering and thinking about my future and the things I want to do," he said.

In addition to his premiership and representative honours, Webcke has twice won Brisbane's player-of-the-year award and was granted life membership of the club in 2003.

Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said Webcke had made the right decision.

"I'm happy for him, I'm not sad for him today," he said.

"I'm really happy for him that he's had such a wonderful career and that he knows it's time to give it up. I feel sad for those who don't know when to stop, those whose careers were punctuated by injury and never reached those wonderful heights that he's reached."

Bennett said he could not have asked more from Webcke during his stellar career with the Broncos.

"He got the absolute best out of himself," he said. "Not many guys can walk away from what they do and say 'I got the best out of myself'. He's in a very unique category."

- RADIO AUSTRALIA