NRL stars leave heartbreaking tributes to Kyle Turner after the Souths premiership winner’s death aged just 31 threw the footy world into mourning
NRL stars leave heartbreaking tribute to Kyle Turner after the death of the Souths Premiership winner aged just 31 sent the footy world into mourning
- Kyle Turner, winner of the NRL premiership, has died aged 31
- Adam Reynolds and Nicho Hynes paid their respects on Instagram
- Lifeline 13 11 14, beyondblue 1300 22 4636
A host of shattered NRL stars have paid tribute to Kyle Turner following the sudden passing of the premiership-winning Rabbitohs star.
Turner, 31, won a title with South Sydney in 2014 – and news of his passing has turned the code on its head.
The likes of former Bunnies teammate Adam Reynolds and Dally M Medalist Nicho Hynes posted tributes on social media.
Reynolds, now the Broncos’ captain, shared a photo on Saturday of several teammates he won the title with at Redfern, including current Roosters star Luke Keary, Dave Tyrrell, Chris McQueen and Kirisome Auva’a.
Turner was front and center in the photo, with the Brisbane halfback adding a broken heart emoji to the post.
A number of shattered NRL stars – including former premiership-winning teammate Adam Reynolds (pictured in a photo with Turner and other members of the Souths team from 2014) have paid tribute to the Bunnies star on social media following his sudden death
Dally M Medalist Nicho Hynes also posted a tribute on Instagram on Saturday
Former Rabbitohs teammate Dylan Walker posted ‘RIP’ with accompanying image of Turner on social media
George Burgess – who won the 2014 premiership alongside Turner – told his social media followers he was ‘speechless’ at the passing of his teammate
Hynes labeled the development “very sad news” and urged his followers to “check in with your friends” before offering his condolences to the Turner family.
Warriors utility Dylan Walker posted an image online of his ex-2014 teammate Turner, while George Burgess wrote, “I’m speechless at this news, how are we saving each other’s lives? Or can we even? This hurts my heart so much.’
South Sydney have since confirmed they will retire number 15 this weekend in memory of Turner, who made 91 first-class appearances for the Rabbitohs between 2014 and 2019, mainly as a striker.
Apart from withdrawing his squad number, the Rabbitohs will wear black armbands in tribute to Turner during Sunday’s game against Newcastle.
“Kyle was a wonderful human being,” said Blake Solly, CEO of Rabbitohs.
“He epitomized the country boy rugby league player. He was such a tough, uncompromising player on the field, yet a sweet, generous man off the field.
We will hold him close to our hearts for the rest of this season and for years to come. Vale Kyle Turner.”
South Sydney have confirmed they will be withdrawing the number 15 shirt for this weekend’s game against Newcastle in memory of Turner
Turner (pictured celebrating a try) won an NRL premiership in 2014, which was his first season debut
Turner also represented NSW Country in 2017 and played for the Indigenous All Stars in 2015 and 2017
Turner started from the bench in the side’s drought-breaking 2014 Grand Final victory over the Bulldogs, the culmination of a 24-game rookie season.
He represented NSW Country in the last City vs Country game in 2017 and made two appearances for the Indigenous All Stars in 2015 and 2017.
An injury hampered Turner’s time in first grade. Notably, the striker suffered a serious neck injury during the 2015 All Stars game that required him to undergo disc replacement surgery.
In 2019, Turner fell out of favor under the Rabbitohs’ new coach Wayne Bennett, who told him to look for opportunities elsewhere from 2020.
He returned to his hometown of Coonabarabran in northern NSW where he played for the Coonabarabran Unicorns and became a teacher.
The Unicorns will also wear black armbands this weekend in tribute to Turner.
Turner’s cause of death is unknown.
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