Sometimes a tribe and a B-grade reality TV-host are needed to get the message across. For some other sports stars however, it just simply may be a case of realizing that your team is better off without you and there’s a lucrative media contract waiting in the wings.
Rather than waiting for the tap on the shoulder and a ticket to the glue factory, the sports stars below chose to bow out of the game with the same grace and charisma that they showed on the field of battle.
While they may have left the game too soon, they won’t be forgotten.
AB De Villers
If the South African superstar had retired a few months earlier, Bunnings may have been robbed of three new employees and endless spaces of free advertising. No one can begrudge the South African superstar a fond farewell into retirement. De Villers is one of the best batsmen of his generation and unlike some other Aussie cricketers, he has chosen to go out at the top of his game.
Cameron Smith
Best known for pioneering the wishbone and the chicken wing tackling technique, the Queensland number nine also showed a deft touch with the whistle-blowers. Smith announced his retirement from representative football and will be watching Queensland take on New South Wales from the sidelines this season. Considered to be one of the top players in the game, the Melbourne Storm skipper has won every accolade that the game has to offer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B67yK_aaoxY
Radja Nainggolan
Red Devils boss Roberto Martinez made the decision to cut AS Roma midfielder from his 28-man provisional squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Martinez couldn’t find a place for the Roma hardman in a squad that includes Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Nainggolan didn’t take the news well and promptly chose to retire from international football. There was outrage on Facebook with 9000 people registering for a protest event in Brussels, but only 23 Nainggolan supporters turning up to make their feelings known. When you have Eden Hazard in your footy team, you get the feeling Nainggolan won’t be missed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVc0pKpfRaY
Nico Rosberg
Gone are the days the Mercedes Formula One garage resembled the set from Frozen. There was simply no love between teammates Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg. Hamilton had beaten Rosberg to the Formula One title on two occasions and the two of them clearly didn’t get along. After a successful season in 2016, Rosberg chose to walk away from the sport, five days after winning the crown from Hamilton.
Justine Henin
In 2008 world number one Justine Henin announced her retirement from the WTA tour. The four-time French Open winner chose to bow out at the top leaving the number one ranking to Maria Sharapova. She made a comeback in 2010 and failed to reach the heights of her glory years and after injuring her elbow at Wimbledon she was forced to give up the game for good.
Jonathan Thurston
Thurston has been the architect of Queensland’s State of Origin domination for the past decade and those south of the border were happy last year to see the halfback on the sidelines. Thurston was injured during the second game of the State of Origin Series and missed the remainder of the 2017 season as the Cowboys made their second NRL Grand Final appearance.
Matt Priddis
The 2017 season was meant to be the final year of Eagles midfielder Sam Mitchell as the former Hawthorn superstar was intent on picking up a gig in the Eagles’ coaching box alongside Adam Simpson. The Eagles were caught off guard when Matt Priddis also decided to call time on his career alongside Mitchell. The Eagles midfielder had a Brownlow medal and Grand Final appearance on his resume and the Eagles had signed Priddis for the 2018 season. We won’t be pointing fingers but, in his absence,, the Eagles are currently leading the competition in 2018 and are on track for one of their best season’s since 2005.
Pierro
Who knows what may have been for the Gai Waterhouse-trained Triple Crown winner as a four-year-old. With memorable victories in the Golden Slipper, Sires Produce and the Champagne Stakes at Randwick, the champion was put out to stud early.