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INJURIES, a roller-coaster of emotion and the media spotlight - not even a six-figure contract offer from North Queensland or offers from two other clubs could stop former Roosters hooker James Aubusson from walking away from the NRL at the age of 24.
A grand finalist with Melbourne in 2007 and an integral part of the Sydney Roosters' charge to last year's decider, the talented hooker from Ballina has chosen to quit the bright lights of the NRL at an age most players start to reach their peak.
Not that there wasn't any interest. The Cowboys had a $100,000 offer on the table, and the Dragons and Tigers also made approaches.
But unwanted by his beloved Roosters, seven operations to his name and on the brink of starting a family with 22-year-old Tahlia Davies, Aubusson made the toughest decision of his life. ''To be honest, if I was still at the Roosters and I was welcome there I would have toyed with the idea of staying,'' Aubusson told The Sun-Herald.
''Because earlier on in the year there was a lot of intention to stay there from both sides and then it sort of got drawn out and I got injuries and the opportunity dried up, I guess. Jake Friend was back, too. And he's a great young player. It was pretty tough at the time - especially early in the season, given I was negotiating with the club and things were looking good.
''Early on in the piece I wouldn't even have thought about retiring - it's all I knew. Moving away to another club didn't interest me too much. I loved the Roosters and Sydney, so I thought to myself: ''You know what, I've got a fair bit of passion to do other things so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
''And once I made the decision, nothing was going to change my mind, because once you make your mind up and commit to leaving, there's very little chance of coming back - or it's very difficult to do so.''
And no, it wasn't a case of coach Brian Smith getting up to his old tricks, as some would have you believe. ''Me and Smithy get along pretty well, actually,'' Aubusson said with a chuckle. ''Even for the wedding he was sending me text messages and he was kind enough to let the boys have a couple of days off training to come down to Goulburn for the wedding.
''There are certainly no hard feelings - that's footy. I guess my wife, Tahlia, and other girlfriends and wives might see it from a different point of view, but it's a business and you have to cop some stuff on the chin, no matter how hard it is. I get on really well with Smithy and I still want to see the Roosters do well. I reckon he's a champion bloke. 'Friendy' was under a bit of stress with his career early in the year and I was playing good footy, and then he came back and I did my medial ligament and he stood in and did a great job. So it was always going to be pretty hard for me to stay there from there on.''
And having recently returned from his honeymoon in the Maldives with Tahlia and having enjoyed his first week at First National Real Estate Goulburn, Aubusson said he had not looked back and had no intention of returning to the NRL.
''I'm the happiest I've been in a very, very long time,'' he said. ''And I probably didn't realise that until I got out and got into the swing of things down here.
''I couldn't have hoped for a smoother transition. It can get pretty intense in the NRL at times.
''Look, I was never a superstar and never going to be a superstar, so the media pressure didn't bother me personally too much. But I was more feeling for some of the boys like Todd Carney and Braith Anasta and Mitchell Pearce, who are in the media spotlight for good, bad or indifferent stuff, but always in there no matter what. And it's tough to see your mates go though that sort of stuff.
''So I now know I made the right decision - which I'm very thankful to my beautiful Tahlia for. She let me make the decision myself and I'm very comfortable with it. It was a very hard decision to make.
''But as happy as I am to have moved away from the NRL, I owe a lot to the game. It gave me the opportunity to kick-start my life a bit quicker than a normal 24-year-old. And I have no regrets.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...219-1b07q.html
Good to see that he's moved on and is happy with his life, didn't think he was that bad a player as many people on here suggested. Anyway i'm happy for him and his wife and wish them all the best for the future.
A grand finalist with Melbourne in 2007 and an integral part of the Sydney Roosters' charge to last year's decider, the talented hooker from Ballina has chosen to quit the bright lights of the NRL at an age most players start to reach their peak.
Not that there wasn't any interest. The Cowboys had a $100,000 offer on the table, and the Dragons and Tigers also made approaches.
But unwanted by his beloved Roosters, seven operations to his name and on the brink of starting a family with 22-year-old Tahlia Davies, Aubusson made the toughest decision of his life. ''To be honest, if I was still at the Roosters and I was welcome there I would have toyed with the idea of staying,'' Aubusson told The Sun-Herald.
''Because earlier on in the year there was a lot of intention to stay there from both sides and then it sort of got drawn out and I got injuries and the opportunity dried up, I guess. Jake Friend was back, too. And he's a great young player. It was pretty tough at the time - especially early in the season, given I was negotiating with the club and things were looking good.
''Early on in the piece I wouldn't even have thought about retiring - it's all I knew. Moving away to another club didn't interest me too much. I loved the Roosters and Sydney, so I thought to myself: ''You know what, I've got a fair bit of passion to do other things so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
''And once I made the decision, nothing was going to change my mind, because once you make your mind up and commit to leaving, there's very little chance of coming back - or it's very difficult to do so.''
And no, it wasn't a case of coach Brian Smith getting up to his old tricks, as some would have you believe. ''Me and Smithy get along pretty well, actually,'' Aubusson said with a chuckle. ''Even for the wedding he was sending me text messages and he was kind enough to let the boys have a couple of days off training to come down to Goulburn for the wedding.
''There are certainly no hard feelings - that's footy. I guess my wife, Tahlia, and other girlfriends and wives might see it from a different point of view, but it's a business and you have to cop some stuff on the chin, no matter how hard it is. I get on really well with Smithy and I still want to see the Roosters do well. I reckon he's a champion bloke. 'Friendy' was under a bit of stress with his career early in the year and I was playing good footy, and then he came back and I did my medial ligament and he stood in and did a great job. So it was always going to be pretty hard for me to stay there from there on.''
And having recently returned from his honeymoon in the Maldives with Tahlia and having enjoyed his first week at First National Real Estate Goulburn, Aubusson said he had not looked back and had no intention of returning to the NRL.
''I'm the happiest I've been in a very, very long time,'' he said. ''And I probably didn't realise that until I got out and got into the swing of things down here.
''I couldn't have hoped for a smoother transition. It can get pretty intense in the NRL at times.
''Look, I was never a superstar and never going to be a superstar, so the media pressure didn't bother me personally too much. But I was more feeling for some of the boys like Todd Carney and Braith Anasta and Mitchell Pearce, who are in the media spotlight for good, bad or indifferent stuff, but always in there no matter what. And it's tough to see your mates go though that sort of stuff.
''So I now know I made the right decision - which I'm very thankful to my beautiful Tahlia for. She let me make the decision myself and I'm very comfortable with it. It was a very hard decision to make.
''But as happy as I am to have moved away from the NRL, I owe a lot to the game. It gave me the opportunity to kick-start my life a bit quicker than a normal 24-year-old. And I have no regrets.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...219-1b07q.html
Good to see that he's moved on and is happy with his life, didn't think he was that bad a player as many people on here suggested. Anyway i'm happy for him and his wife and wish them all the best for the future.
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