Veteran forward Matt White has informed Burleigh Bears coaching staff that 2018 will be his final year of rugby league.
The 188cm, 113kg, 156 NRL game colossus will be in the frontline for Saturday's 1pm do-or-die Intrust Super Cup preliminary final between the Bears and Easts Tigers at Pizzey Park.
The winner will advance to the grand final on Sunday, September 23 at Suncorp Stadium.
Easts are one of White's former clubs, having suited up for the Tigers in the 2016 season before moving to Burleigh.
White contacted Bears head coach Jimmy Lenihan on Thursday to tell him of his decision to retire, ahead of addressing teammates at training on Friday night.
Club chief executive Damian Driscoll said White had been an outstanding servant, on and off the field, in two years at Burleigh.
"Even though he is coming to that stage where his career is winding down, he has hardly missed a game in two seasons, playing the toughest position on the paddock," Driscoll said.
"His family are all coming down from northern New South Wales to cheer him on this weekend and hopefully next weekend as well.
"Matt was our Player of the Year in 2017 and has not once shirked doing the hard yards."
Before Burleigh and Easts, White also played Intrust Super Cup for Tweed Heads.
Born in Armidale but a junior for Inverell, he enjoyed 11 seasons of NRL, including four years with Newcastle, six with the Gold Coast Titans and one with the Melbourne Storm.
He also featured for English club Barrow in 2017.
A trivial aspect of White's NRL career is that he scored just one try in over a decade, coming in 2009, his first year for the Titans.
He has scored four tries total in his two seasons with Burleigh.
