Manly half Kane Elgey has retired from the NRL aged 25 after falling out of love with the game.
Elgey made the announcement on Tuesday despite still having a year to run on his contract with the Sea Eagles.
"After months of consideration I have decided to officially retire from the NRL and move back home," Elgey wrote on his Instagram account.
"I just know deep down I don't love it like I use (sic) to and when you lose that it's very hard to keep doing it at a high level."
Elgey debuted for hometown club Gold Coast in 2015 but the Australian Schoolboys representative's career stalled when he suffered an ACL injury in pre-season training before the 2016 campaign.
He returned the following year but struggled with confidence and fitness across the next two seasons before leaving the Titans at the end of 2018 following 46 appearances in four seasons.
He received a career lifeline from Manly and made 11 appearances in his only season at Lottoland.
Despite a good start to his time with the Sea Eagles, by the finals Elgey had been relegated to a back-up role behind Dylan Walker and Cade Cust as the preferred halves partner for Daly Cherry-Evans.
Australian Associated Press
