Canberra fan favourite Sia Soliola has brought to a close his 17-year rugby league career, confirming he has played his last NRL game for the Raiders.
Soliola confirmed on Tuesday that he would not play on in 2022, after letting his contract at the club expire at the end of next month.
The Kiwi international debuted under now-Raiders coach Ricky Stuart in 2005 at the Sydney Roosters, then playing as a winger and centre.
He then left for the English Super League in 2010, before returning to play under Stuart at the Raiders in 2015 and playing his last seven seasons as a middle forward.
"I'm at ease with everything now," Soliola said.
"There's a few mixed emotions, I'm excited and a bit nervous but relieved to make the decision to leave the game.
"It has given me a lot and I'm looking forward to what's ahead."
Soliola played 336 first-grade matches with 229 of them in the NRL.
He played in losing grand finals for St Helens in 2010 and 2011, before finally securing a Super League title in 2014 at the same club.
His return to the Raiders then saw him feature in the 2019 NRL decider with Canberra, before also featuring in last year's finals charge.
"Because I went so young when I went to Super League, I felt like I still had a fair bit of time to come back to the NRL," Soliola said.
"There was always that feeling in the back of your mind whether you could still do it or not.
"But I was excited with the challenge that was in front of me and I really wanted to do what I could to help influence the team when I came back to Australia."
Soliola played 12 Tests for the Kiwis, and four for Samoa at the 2013 World Cup.
He will now take up a role in Canberra's welfare and education department.
Meanwhile, the Raiders confirmed Dunamis Lui, Siliva Havili and Caleb Aekins would not be offered new contracts.
Lui played in the 2019 grand final for the club and also made his State of Origin debut as recently as last season, but fell out of favour in 2021.
Havilii suffered a similar fate, being their bench hooker for the majority of the past few seasons before playing only 11 games this year.
Australian Associated Press
