{"id":435209,"date":"2026-02-20T01:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/435209\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T01:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:14:10","slug":"york-knights-and-ex-hull-fc-man-makes-retirement-admission-and-talks-next-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/435209\/","title":{"rendered":"York Knights and ex-Hull FC man makes retirement admission and talks next steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"York\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

York Knights back-rower Josh Griffin has admitted that this season could turn out to be his last as a rugby league player.<\/p>\n

Griffin\u2019s mind isn\u2019t completely made up, but as he sets out for what will be his 19th season as a professional, he is comfortable with the idea that the 2026 campaign could mark the end of his career.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old started as a teenager with Wakefield Trinity back in 2008 and since then he has taken in spells with Huddersfield Giants, Castleford Tigers, Batley Bulldogs, Salford Red Devils, Hull FC and York<\/a>, with three stints coming at Belle Vue.<\/p>\n

His most successful period came as a Hull player, where Griffin won the Challenge Cup and scored 45 tries in 144 appearances. So far, he has made 323 appearances as a rugby league player, with last Thursday\u2019s win over treble winners being his most recent and arguably one of his most memorable, too, with the Knights defying the odds to produce one of the biggest shocks in Super League history.<\/p>\n

How the year will pan out for York is anyone\u2019s guess at this stage but Griffin, with retirement in the back of his mind, is just determined to savour every minute of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will probably be my last year and that is what it is, so I\u2019ll give it my all and enjoy the ride,\u201d he told Serious About Rugby League.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely from a full time environment it will be. We\u2019ll see how I feel but at the moment I\u2019m leaning towards it, so I\u2019m just trying to enjoy it for what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in a privileged position to be able to live my childhood dream for as long as I have and for it to come to an end, I just want to enjoy it and take what comes. It\u2019s been an honour to do it and to be able to be with York in their maiden year in Super League, it\u2019s a nice way to go out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a coffee shop and I\u2019m studying for my Master\u2019s in strength and conditioning, so that\u2019s the role I\u2019m going to step into next year. I\u2019ve got a lot going on and the dreaded \u2018R\u2019 word comes around for every player, but I\u2019m not 100 per cent. I\u2019ll see how I feel throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMash [Mark Applegarth] has been quite good with me, he\u2019s said if I want to knock on his door we can chat about it, but it depends how I feel. I\u2019m feeling good at the moment, I\u2019m enjoying it, but we\u2019ll see because it\u2019s a tough old thing playing Super League week in, week out, and I\u2019ve been doing it for the best part of 18 years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Griffin opts to hang up his boots or not at the end of the season, he plans to stick around in the game, with a coaching role already lined up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a role here at York, I\u2019ll step into a role here,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s the next chapter away from the game in terms of playing, just to be involved in the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mikey Lewis\u2019 moment of madness, shock Super League results and World Club Challenge Preview \u2013 Click here to watch the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"York Knights back-rower Josh Griffin has admitted that this season could turn out to be his last as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-435209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}