butchmcdick
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Hegarty retires, with advice from Fittler
JOSH ALSTON
November 18th, 2009
A HEART to heart with former teammate Brad Fittler was enough to convince 2009 Cowboy Shannon Hegarty that enough was enough.
After a glittering 11-year career in the NRL the Queensland and Australian representative decided to hang up his boots at the close of last season after accomplishing everything he had set out to achieve in the sport.
The 30-year-old collected almost every accolade in the game, scoring a try in a grand final win for the Roosters and earning three jerseys for both Queensland and Australia.
Handed a lifeline by the Cowboys last season after being cut from the Rabbitohs, Hegarty had little chance to shine and could only manage five appearances.
Left to ponder his future, the former Rooster and Rabbitoh revealed it was Fittler who had sold him on the idea of hanging up the boots.
''Recently I went down to Sydney and stayed with 'Freddie' Fittler and had a chat,'' he said.
''I mentioned I wasn't ready to go and I could go another season and he looked me in the eye and said 'mate, we had a really good run, a great run'.
''There's no shame in that (retiring), I don't think any footballer could want more.
''I just felt I was not where I should be.
''I felt like I could have kept going for another year or so but there is so much young talent coming though.
''You get the feeling with what is happening around you that when it's not working for you, it's time to move on to different things.''
Now Hegarty is using all the skills he learned on the fitness side of things in professional football to start a new career as a manager for Australian Sports Nutrition.
He is currently cutting his teeth in the Townsville branch but will soon move to Sydney to manage his own store in Darlinghurst.
''I'm going to be pretty full-on with ASN, I'll be taking on a managerial position in Sydney, trying to get that off the ground and hit the ground running,'' he said.
''I've been working here for a month now, getting to know what a real job is I guess.
''It's something that I know, supreme fitness has been my life since I was 17 years old, playing professional football for (11) years in first grade so I know quite a bit.
''Stepping into it has been quite natural, it's just learning the ins and outs of business but I've got a great team behind me.''
Hegarty said he would look back fondly at his career and said he had no regrets in walking away from the game.
The Mackay product also said he was glad he got a chance to represent his home region at the top level in the final stages of his career for the Cowboys.
''It was good to come back and play rugby league here in North Queensland because I'm from Mackay, I grew up in this region,'' he said.
''I played a lot of youth football here when I was a little kid.
''A lot of footballers dream of the fairytale ending, to win a grand final or play in a grand final or have a killer end of a season.
''Mine wasn't to be but having said that it gave me time to think about what I wanted to do, it just came naturally.''
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/11/18/94731_cowboys.html
Thank god for that.
