Cronulla Sharks veteran prop Andrew Fifita has confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the 2022 NRL season.
It means this Saturday will be his final home game for the club, unless the Sharks finish in the top two and the NRL allow them to play in the Shire. That currently seems unlikely though given the redevelopment of the ground and extremely limited capacity.
Fifita has played 247 NRL games since making his debut for the Tigers back in 2010, with the now 33-year-old moving to the Sharks in 2012 where he has been ever since.
Playing 208 games to date for the club, Fifita was one of the best players on the park during the drought-breaking 2016 premiership, with many believing he was wrongly denied the Clive Churchill Medal for his performance.
Limited in his minutes this season, Fifita has played all but 1 of his 18 games off the bench for Cronulla, but had one of his best performances of the season last weekend in a drubbing of the Sea Eagles where he ran for 135 metres.
The club have confirmed he will address the media this afternoon and be afforded a lap of honour after his final home game against the Bulldogs on Saturday.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Fifita has every intention of playing on in 2023 either in the NRL or in the English Super League, with the 33-year-old not ready to call time on his career yet.
A former New South Wales and Australian international, Fifita will likely still turn out for Tonga in the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, to be held in England later this year.
