{"id":377299,"date":"2025-12-29T02:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T02:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/377299\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T02:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T02:56:08","slug":"sharks-premiership-winner-announces-rugby-league-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/377299\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks premiership winner announces rugby league retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ricky Leutele has officially announced his retirement from rugby league, bringing the curtain down on a 14-year professional career highlighted by his role in Cronulla\u2019s historic 2016 NRL premiership.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old confirmed his decision via an emotional social media post, reflecting on a journey that took him from Woodridge to the top level of the sport across both hemispheres.<\/p>\n

Leutele will be forever remembered fondly by Sharks<\/a> fans as a key member of the club\u2019s first and only NRL premiership side, playing in the 2016 Grand Final triumph that ended decades of heartbreak for the Cronulla faithful.<\/p>\n

A powerful and reliable centre, Leutele scored six tries during that premiership campaign and provided a strong presence as the Sharks surged to an unforgettable title.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Josh Schuster confirms Manly meeting<\/a><\/p>\n

He spent nine seasons at Cronulla, amassing 128 first-grade appearances and 30 tries, establishing himself as one of the most consistent outside backs in the club\u2019s modern era.<\/p>\n

\"#Lurker<\/p>\n

After leaving the Sharks at the end of 2018, Leutele took his career overseas, joining the Toronto Wolfpack and playing a major role in their promotion to the Super League with 35 appearances.<\/p>\n

His journey then included a brief return to the NRL with Melbourne, before further Super League stints with Huddersfield and Leigh, where he continued to perform well into his 30s.<\/p>\n

Leutele finished his playing career in Australia with Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup, while also proudly representing Samoa on seven occasions at international level.<\/p>\n

Across the NRL and Super League, Leutele totalled 249 first-grade appearances, a testament to his durability, professionalism and consistency across a long career.<\/p>\n

In his retirement message, Leutele paid tribute to his family, teammates and clubs, acknowledging the injuries and setbacks along the way while expressing pride in overcoming every challenge.<\/p>\n

While his playing days are now over, Leutele has indicated he plans to remain involved in rugby league, aiming to give back to the game that delivered him a premiership ring and a career he once only dreamed of achieving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ricky Leutele has officially announced his retirement from rugby league, bringing the curtain down on a 14-year professional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-377299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}