Dewsbury Rams' former Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity half-back Liam Finn announces retirement

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com - 14/04/2019 - Rugby League - Coral Challenge Cup - Thatto Heath Crusaders v Dewsbury Rams - Hatton Solicitors Crusader Park, Thatto Heath, England - Liam Finn.

The Dewsbury Rams half-back will run out for the final time as a professional when Oldham visit the Tetley's Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The 37-year-old is in his second spell with the Rams and has represented numerous clubs during his career including: Halifax, Wakefield Trinity, Featherstone Rovers, Castleford Tigers, Widnes Vikings and Newcastle Thunder.

He has made more than 450 career appearances and earned 32 international caps with Ireland. The Yorkshire-born player also captained the Irish side during an 11-year international career.

Finn's first spell at Dewsbury between 2006 and 2009 saw him rack up over 100 appearances for the club before he went on to enjoy over 100 games at Featherstone.

He returned to the Rams in 2019 after spells with Castleford and Wakefield and he now feels the time is right to hang up his boots.

“I feel as though I’m ready to finish now because this year has been the first time ever that I’ve lost a bit of the enjoyment you need to get the best out of yourself," he said.

“The sacrifices that you make to be a pro or semi-pro player started to outweigh my desire and I just knew I couldn’t give it my all anymore.

“I’ve had a great time throughout the course of my career and made some good friends and I appreciate all the opportunities I’ve been given through the sport of rugby league.

“I’ve had some great times at most of the clubs I’ve been at and I think I’ve done a decent job in whatever role I had in any team. I hope I was a good teammate to play alongside and if I was I’m more than happy with that.

“It will be nice to finish at home with Dewsbury this weekend as it was the place where my career started to really get going and felt I matured into a proper first team player here.

“I’ve got no major plans for retirement but I want to spend more time watching my kids play sports or whatever else they want to do and I think my partner Laura will appreciate having me around to help a bit more.”