June 24, 2006
There’s been a fair amount of talk this week about my commitment with the Raiders, and a lot of speculation about what my future is and where I’ll be playing next year.
I like to think that I am the type of bloke who makes a decision quickly and does the best thing by his family, so I am pleased to announce that I will be remaining in Canberra next year.
The thought of leaving Canberra and heading back to Queensland was obviously something that I looked at very seriously, not only from a football perspective but also a family one.
It’s been ten years since I left my home north of the border, and it’s somewhere that my family will probably end up eventually when my playing career comes to an end.
Both mine and my wife Niomi’s families are from up that way, and returning to them with our young family has a lot of positives for us, in respects to raising our children and settling down long term.
The talk and speculation of me playing for the Reds in the Super 14 was just an option I had explored through my player manager, and as my manager he was only checking out suitable alternatives that would best suit the needs of me and my family.
Having said that I would like to reassure everyone here in Canberra that I genuinely want to stay and play for the Raiders, and that I am still 100 per cent committed to a team that I love playing for.
As I have been saying for some time now Canberra is a great place to live and play footy, and an even better place to raise a family and meet new people.
I have been here for six years now and I love the place, I love the people, the lifestyle and especially the Raiders, and captaining the side is something that I hold in a very high regard.
There is no better feeling than walking of Canberra Stadium with a cheering crowd after a win, and I have shown publicly this year after some of these victories how good that feeling is.
I just hope that everyone understands that the move to Queensland was only ever an option for me, and it would have taken a fair amount of persuading for me to head that way.
Obviously Rugby Union would be a huge challenge, and it’s something that a lot of Rugby League players have decided to take on over the past few years.
Seeing guys like Matt Rogers, Lote Tuquiri and now Ryan Cross make the move makes you wonder if you could also cross codes, and it is something that I would really have to think hard about before making a change.
In the same respects any move oversees to England would be an equally hard challenge and a huge lifestyle change for my family and my football, so it was only an outside chance that either change would happen.
There was one constant that always remained in the equation though, and that was the support and encouragement I have received from people in and around the Raiders community.
I would like to thank those of you who have supported me over the last week, and in particular the people who took the time to write to me with there best wishes and support.
It’s the supporters like yourselves who make decisions like this a lot easier, and I just hope I can repay your faith in me with some good performances on the field for the rest of my time in the lime green.
http://www.raiders.com.au/season/extratime/coach/
