Class of 2023: The Super League stars who will retire at the end of the season

Super League will bid farewell to a number of retiring players at the end of the season when they hang up their boots.

14 Super League players have so far confirmed that they’ll be retiring from the game at the season’s end, bringing an end to their impressive playing careers…

Sam Tomkins

Tomkins will undoubtedly retire as one of the greatest players of the Super League era.

The 34-year-old has made almost 400 career appearances for England, Wigan, New Zealand Warriors and Catalans.

Tomkins, a two-time Man of Steel winner, won three Super League Grand Finals with Wigan as well as two League Leaders’ Shields and two Challenge Cups.

The Milton Keynes-born full-back, who captained England at last year’s World Cup, made the Super League Dream Team five years in a row between 2009-13.

Mitchell Pearce

Pearce spent the majority of his career in the NRL, making more than 230 appearances for Sydney Roosters between 2007-17, winning a Premiership with the club in 2013.

The former State of Origin star then spent four more seasons in the NRL with Newcastle Knights.

Pearce, 34, made the move to Super League with Catalans ahead of the 2022 season, playing a key role in their impressive season this year.

Jamie Shaul

The Hull-born full-back has announced he will retire at the end of the season after making 200 appearances for his hometown club.

Shaul helped his boyhood club lift back-to-back Challenge Cups in 2016 and 2017.

The 31-year-old, who won a solitary cap for England in 2018, also enjoyed a spell on loan at Wakefield in 2022.

Scott Taylor

Taylor will retire having made more than 300 career appearances for England, Hull KR, Wigan, Salford (loan) and Hull FC.

Like Shaul, Taylor was a member of the Hull side that won back-to-back Challenge Cups in 2016 and 2017, also making the Super League Dream Team in 2016.

Taylor won the Super League and Challenge Cup double in 2013 and was part of England’s World Cup squad in 2017.

Lachlan Coote

Coote announced earlier this year that he would hang up his boots at the end of the season, but unfortunately had to retire earlier than expected on medical advice.

The 33-year-old won almost everything there is to win in the game, from the NRL Premiership with North Queensland Cowboys in 2015 to the Challenge Cup and three Super League titles with St Helens.

Coote was born and raised in Australia and is of Scottish heritage, representing Great Britain and Scotland on the international stage.

He made more than 250 career appearances for Great Britain, Scotland, Penrith Panthers, North Queensland Cowboys, St Helens and Hull KR.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall

Kenny-Dowall will go down as one of Super League’s greatest overseas signings.

The former New Zealand international has spent the past four seasons in Super League with Hull KR, making almost 100 appearances for the Robins, helping them reach the Challenge Cup final at Wembley earlier this season.

Kenny-Dowall, who won 21 caps on the international stage with New Zealand, won the NRL Premiership with Sydney Roosters in 2013 and the World Club Challenge the following year.

The 35-year-old centre was named in the 2022 Super League Dream Team.

James Roby

We ran out of superlatives to describe Roby a long time ago. He will be forever remembered as a true great of the game.

The legendary hooker holds the record as St Helens’ all-time appearance holder with a whopping 548 games (and counting!) to his name.

Roby, who was named Man of Steel in 2007, has won six Super League titles, four Challenge Cups and two World Club Challenges with his boyhood club during a sensational 20-year playing career.

The 37-year-old won 39 caps on the international stage in total for Great Britain and England, representing his country in the past three World Cups.

Roby’s team-mate Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is expected to retire at the season’s end too, so he’ll be added to this list when an official announcement from the club is made.

David Fifita

The Big Bopper has retired a Wakefield legend.

The former Tonga international returned to his beloved Wakefield in May as he tried to help Trinity avoid relegation from Super League.

Fifita was a fan favourite at Belle Vue and in Super League, spending seven seasons with Wakefield, making more than 150 appearances for the West Yorkshire club.

Chris McQueen

The Huddersfield Giants veteran will call time on his legendary career at the end of the year with more than 250 appearances across NRL and Super League.

The back-rower won the 2014 NRL Grand Final with South Sydney Rabbitohs, featuring from the interchange bench in the 30-6 win over Canterbury Bulldogs. He also claimed the Lance Todd Trophy in 2022 in the defeat to Wigan in the Challenge Cup final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

McQueen represented Queensland five times before an England debut in 2017 under then-coach Wayne Bennett against Samoa, qualifying through his father Kevin.

Nathan Peats

Huddersfield Giants hooker Peats has called time on his career in a surprise announcement via social media. The Australian hooker represented New South Wales during his NRL career across stints with South Sydney Rabbitohs, Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans.

He featured for Leigh, Huddersfield and Toulouse in Super League, as well as a stint in the French Elite 1 competition with Albi.

Josh Jones

Former Great Britain international Jones announced his immediate retirement via social media following his mutual release from club Huddersfield.

The back-rower retires with 236 Super League career appearances to his name, having also represented Great Britain during the revived tour Down Under in 2019 under Wayne Bennett, making his test debut against Tonga.

The 2014 Grand Final winner with St Helens also featured in Salford’s first-ever appearance at Old Trafford in 2019.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook 

St Helens legend McCarthy-Scarsbrook will call time on his illustrious career at the end of 2023 – although plans on sticking around town to pursue a new career as a fireman with the Merseyside fire and rescue services.

The 37-year-old London-born prop will see an end to a successful 13-year stint at Saints which has seen him win five Grand Finals, a World Club Challenge and a Challenge Cup.

Nathan Mason

The 30-year-old will leave Huddersfield upon the expiry of his contract to retire and start the next chapter of his life in Australia.

Mason, who hails from Oldham, came through the academy at the Giants. He made more than 150 career appearances for Oldham (loan), London Broncos, Leigh and Huddersfield.

Kenny Edwards

The 34-year-old has hung up his boots following the conclusion of Castleford’s season and will return home to Australia with his family.

Edwards made nearly 200 career appearances for Parramatta Eels, Catalans Dragons, Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers.

The New Zealand-born forward helped Catalans win the Challenge Cup at Wembley in 2018. He also won representative honours with the Combined Nations All Stars.

Special mentions

Chris Clarkson

Clarkson may have not played in Super League for a few years – but the York forward deserves a special mention after a stellar career.

The 33-year-old is bringing down the curtain on his playing career at the end of the Championship season.

Clarkson made more than 300 career appearances for Leeds, Widnes (loan), Hull KR, Castleford and York.

The former England Knights international won a Super League Grand Final and World Club Challenge with the Rhinos.

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