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Premiership-winning NRL star Luke Keary will announce his retirement at the age of 32 in a bombshell for the NRL.
The former grand final winner for Souths has been a driving force behind the Roosters’ stunning success since switching from their rivals in 2017, helping them to back-to-back premierships in 2018 and 2019.
The five-eighth is contracted until the end of 2025, which he says means he will sacrifice up to $800,000 in revenue. News Corp.
Keary’s future has been bleak in recent years due to the number of concussions he has suffered during his 212 first grade games.
Keary (pictured earlier this month for the Roosters against Newcastle) will soon announce his retirement at the end of the season
In 2022, he condemned the NRL for not taking strong enough action to reduce the toll of head impacts on players.
Keary suffered five concussions from January 2018 to May 2019, putting his immediate future in the game in doubt.
He missed five weeks of the 2022 season after a headbutt against Melbourne and called on the league to address the contact in training.
“Five years ago we should have had less contact… I don’t know why it took so long,” Keary said.
The 32-year-old (pictured with wife Amy) was left in doubt about his future as a player when he suffered a shocking series of concussions in 2018-19.
His absence will be a bitter blow for the Roosters, who will also lose Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Angus Crichton at the end of the season.
“They do that in the NFL. I don’t know how we didn’t do those investigations and tests… I just don’t know how it didn’t happen.
“I talk to some of these doctors and it’s the repeated hits you get in training. The constant whiplash… that kind of thing. The fact that this is not under control is just strange.
“But obviously they’re doing some things now, it’s going to get to that point, everyone knows it’s going to achieve what it’s supposed to do.”
The club has previously lost stars Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend to early retirement due to issues recovering from concussion.
Keary, along with teammates Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Angus Crichton, will leave the club at the end of the year, with that trio all defecting to rugby union.
Veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is also leaving to play in the Super League in England.