KEY POINTS:
Even before the final whistle last night, the hugs started for Ruben Wiki.
After 16 years and 312 first-grade games, it was the end for a rugby league legend. There was to be no fairytale ending for this 35-year-old Warrior.
He gave a brief wave to the fans
standing to cheer him just behind the Warriors' bench.
Then his teammates and the Manly players sought him out, especially Steve Menzies who is also retiring at the end of the season, but the biggest embrace was left for Logan Swann.
There has been great fanfare about Wiki's retirement over recent weeks but less has been made of the fact that last night was the end of the NRL road for Swann, too.
"It was pretty emotional," Wiki said afterwards, "but I tried to keep it all in. It was hard when Logan came up to me because he's one of my closest friends."
Wiki will now look forward to a final hitout with the All Golds in the lead-up to the World Cup but he was still keeping mum about what he will do next year. He has kept people in suspense since announcing mid-season that this would be his last year in the NRL and he heightened the drama again last night.
"I will let you know after the All Golds game," he said. "But it's been a great ride for me. I look back on it when it started in 1993 and now Manly 16 years later. It feels different to when I retired from the Kiwis because I knew this one was coming.
"On the day, though, it wasn't meant to be. Things happen for a reason and we ran into a red-hot Manly side. We couldn't control them."
Coach Ivan Cleary was also full of admiration for a Sea Eagles side that must now be hot-favourites to claim their first title since 1996.
The Warriors weren't bad but Manly were a different class, particularly from broken play.
"Too good," Cleary said. "They were just too good. We had a few opportunities early in the game but just couldn't quite get there. When they had the ball they often got a repeat set and scored. We kept plugging away and tried to turn things around but Manly were just a level above.
"It's disappointing but I'm really proud of the players. They fought very hard and to get to this point was a great achievement. When things weren't going well for us, they kept working hard and turned things around. The last four weeks have been a lot of fun.
"I feel like we are making progress [as a club]. We have got a bit to go but we will review the season and get back to basics. The last few years have been pretty consistent so the signs are encouraging."
There will be a number of newcomers who arrive next season, like Joel Moon and Denan Kemp but there will also be a couple of holes next season - and one a very big one in particular.
Wiki has played like a 30-year-old in recent weeks but it's perhaps what he does off the park and his influence on the side that will be missed the most.
How he uses that in the future is still up in the air but he deserves to look back on the past with a great deal of pride.
