Not all rugby league players get to finish their careers the way they want. A high percentage of players are squeezed out of the game after only a few seasons. Some are forced out due to injury. 

Here’s a short list of NRL players made to retire due to injury.

 
Taniela Tuiaki 
Wests Tigers
The most devastating winger in the NRL at the peak of his powers and was named Dally M Rookie of the Year in 2009. But the year ended horrifically for the Tongan and Kiwi International when he broke his ankle in round 24 against Parramatta. Despite numerous surgeries, Tuiaki never returned to the field.

Jharal Yow Yeh
Brisbane Broncos
An Australian and Queensland representative, Yow Yeh’s career would end in sickening fashion against South Sydney in Perth. Going up for a kick, Yow Yeh landed awkwardly and broke the lower half of his leg. His career was over.

Nik Kosef
Manly-Warringah & Northern Eagles
A classy, ball-playing lock, Kosef was a mainstay of the dominant Eagles teams of the mid 1990’s. He would go on to represent Australia and New South Wales but was battling to stay on the field by 2002 after four knee reconstructions in previous seasons.

Ben Creagh
St George Illawarra
270 NRL games, Australian and Blues jumpers and a premiership ring. Creagh announced he was hanging up his boots recently after battling a chronic knee injury.

Andrew Johns
Newcastle Knights
The 8th Immortal was told by doctors in 2007 that returning to football after a severe neck injury could place his life in jeopardy. Johns decided to retire and end one of the most glittering careers rugby league will ever know.

Anthony Watmough
Manly-Warringah & Parramatta
One of Manly’s great warriors who eventually headed west to the Eels. Watmough offered to retire due to a knee injury as Parramatta plunged further into their salary cap woes at the start of the 2016 season.

Adam Docker
Penrith Panthers
Once regarded a smokey for the Australian side, Docker was forced into retirement at just 24 due to an ongoing knee injury which left him barely able to walk. The Shellharbour junior had only just recovered from a series of concussions.

Alex McKinnon
St. George Illawarra & Newcastle Knights
A promising utility forward under the tutelage of super coach Wayne Bennett, McKinnon was speared into the AAMI Park turf in a Monday night match against the Melbourne Storm in 2014. McKinnon is yet to walk.

Simon Dwyer
Wests Tigers
Regarded as a future New South Wales forward, Dwyer suffered a devastating shoulder injury in 2011 which is yet to fully recover.

Kyle Stanley
St George Illawarra
One of the unluckiest players to play the modern game. Stanley managed 46 games in a five season career but announced his retirement at the end of 2015 at the tender age of 24. Five knee reconstructions and several shoulder operations were too much for his body to bare.

James McManus
Newcastle
A toiling winger for the Knights who debuted back in 2007. McManus played a handful of games for New South Wales including the series winning 2014 team. Ongoing health issues relating to concussion forced the Scottish International’s hand.

Jarrod McCracken
Canterbury, Parramatta & Wests Tigers
One of the great New Zealand players of the 1990’s, McCracken headed to the Wests Tigers in 2000 and was soon announced as captain. But a match against Melbourne would end his career when Storm players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai upended the second rower. He landed on the point of his head and was lucky to walk away from the incident at all.