After 270 games, five clubs and 14 seasons in the NRL, former NSW and Australia representative Aaron Woods has bowed out of rugby league.
The journeyman prop forward will retire at the end of this season, having achieved his childhood dream of playing for Manly in 2023.
Woods made two first grade appearances off the bench for the Sea Eagles this season, spending the majority of his final year playing for Blacktown Workers in the NSW Cup.
His last game for the reserve side came in their 40-30 loss to Canterbury on Saturday, with the Workers having failed to make finals.
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“I had a lot of my family and friends there, sort of just kept it quiet to myself,” Woods told Triple M Rush Hour on Tuesday.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
“I’m not really one to cry – I didn’t cry on my wedding day or nothing. But when I did come off the field, I think the first person I saw was my eldest son, Buster, and my middle daughter, Coco, and it just sort of hit me that I won’t be playing in front of them anymore.”
Woods made his NRL debut for Wests Tigers in 2011 aged 20, and fast became a fan favourite with his shaggy beard and long locks.
He forced his way into the Tigers’ starting side in his second season, which he capped by winning the Dally M Prop of the Year award.
His form was awarded with a NSW State of Origin call-up in 2013 followed by a Kangaroos nod the year after.
“It’s just the rollercoaster journey,” Woods said.
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“As a kid growing up in Leichhardt, I wanted nothing other than to be a rugby league player.”
Woods eventually racked up 146 appearances for the joint venture club before moving to the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2018.
He lasted half a year before a mid-season switch to Cronulla, where he fell short of making a grand final three years in a row.
After a brief stint at St George Illawarra in 2022, he signed with the Sea Eagles in 2023 and played 17 games for his boyhood club.
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Woods played alongside the likes of NRL legends and current coaches Benji Marshall and Todd Payten in his time at the Tigers, who he credits as major influences in his career.
“To go out and run along those blokes and to fulfil a childhood dream … it was just unreal,” he said.
“This whole journey, it’s been just a dream come true for me.
“There’s ups, there’s a lot of downs. I’ve done nearly everything in the game and I wouldn’t change it for a thing. You learn so many lessons in life from it.”
© AAP