Neil Richardson

6/15/2017 Woolnough retires then returns with dreams of a Grand Final – Creating, Kippers Creating, Kippers  SPORT Woolnough retires then returns with dreams of a Grand Final Wooly returns The last thing on Adam Woolnough’s mind when he walked away from the NRL two years ago was winning a grand final. Now it could be a reality. After deciding he no longer had a passion for rugby league the 28-year-old Penrith Panthers forward decided to retire and travel the world with his wife. Woolnough turned his back on the game that had seen him play over 130-odd games for the Newcastle Knights and the Panthers since his debut in 2002. “I seriously wouldn’t have thought about it. At the time the [Penrith] Panthers were not close, I was more than happy about going overseas and moving on to the next part of my life,” Woolnough said. Teammates gobsmacked Penrith teammate Nathan Smith said the team were in disbelief when Woolnough told them of his decision. “He was still pretty young. It was a bit of a shock up here as he still had a year to go on his contract,” Smith said. On his travels Woolnough scoured the newspapers searching for any information he could find on the competition back home. https://awkcmedia.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/woolnough-returns/ 1/4 6/15/2017 Woolnough retires then returns with dreams of a Grand Final – Creating, Kippers It was a trip to Texas that finally made up his mind about a return to rugby league he said. He walked around the Texas Longhorns stadium (http://www.texassports.com/) — home of the college gridiron team — and what he saw blew him away. “It was like a shrine to all the past players and past greats, and I was like, far out, I’ve never been involved in something like that, and that was when I started to think seriously and wanted to be involved in something like that,” Woolnough said. Out of form What worried him though was that he had been out of the game for almost a year and might have no chance of getting a run. “I didn’t set the world on fire when I was at Penrith, and I was getting on in years,” he said. He said he needed to ask the question knowing it would haunt him if he didn’t. “I would have been happy if someone had just said ‘no’, at least I would have known,” Woolnough said. Then he received the call that he had been hoping for — Melbourne Storm wanted him. “I was pumped . . . the culture, the club and the certain amount of expectation they have . . . and the players they retained, Billy [Slater], Cooper [Cronk] and Cameron Smith, it was pretty exciting that they might have a chance to go and win a grand final,” Woolnough said. His old teammate at the Panthers Trent Waterhouse said he found it unbelievable. “Who goes on holiday around the world then comes back and could win a comp? It’s not bad,” Waterhouse said. Twice this season Woolnough and Waterhouse went head-to-head against each other on the field with Waterhouse declaring that his mate had improved since coming back from retirement. https://awkcmedia.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/woolnough-returns/ 2/4 6/15/2017 Woolnough retires then returns with dreams of a Grand Final – Creating, Kippers “He’s a good player, he’s strong, and he’s pretty hard to handle when he gets going . . . He refuses to get tackled. He’s always throwing those offloads out the back, big hand grenades I call them,” Waterhouse said. Storm pick up a bargain Smith said he believed the trip had brought the best out of Woolnough to the benefit of the Storm. “They’ve definitely got a bargain, which I think they know,” Smith said. Woolnough said he believed talk of him being a different player to the one that retired had more to do with the players and coaching staff that surrounds him. “Maybe because I am playing on a better team, that sort of always contributes to people being talked about in a better light . . . I have no idea if I am or not,” Woolnough said. Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he believed that Woolnough had played a significant role in the team this season. “There is no doubt he is a much more experienced player than before, and I think having had a break he certainly appreciated another opportunity to play at the top level again and his form shows that. “He has worked really hard in the offseason, and that hard work has paid off with Adam playing a key role as a forward leader. His experience . . . Has been a key factor, especially with our young forwards,” Bellamy said. After defeat to Manly in the penultimate round of the competition, Woolnough said it might not be a bad thing to lose now and not in the semi-finals. “One loss doesn’t mean we are not going to go all the way, you’ve got to have a bit of confidence . . . the team realises there is a lot more hard work to go,” he said. https://awkcmedia.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/woolnough-returns/ 3/4 6/15/2017 Woolnough retires then returns with dreams of a Grand Final – Creating, Kippers And if he were to walk away a grand final winner two years after retiring, wouldn’t that be one hell of a story? “Bloody oath . . . I wouldn’t be able to wipe the smile off my face,” Woolnough said. *Published in the Manning River Times AWKCMEDIA  Blog at WordPress.com. https://awkcmedia.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/woolnough-returns/ 4/4