Former Canberra Raider Sam Williams has notched up a century playing for North Canberra Gungahlin in the Australian Capital Territory's first-grade premier cricket competition.
Williams retired from the NRL during the 2022 season, stepping aside to allow for younger players to gain opportunities in Ricky Stuart's NRL squad.
โYeah look, it's my time to leave the club, Williams said at the time in mid-June.
โOver the last 16, 17 years I have been at the club now since I started in Harold Matthews and coming through the grades.
โI think the club is in a really good position going forward, especially in the halves, and I didn't want to stay around and stop a younger player come through the system and get game time, whether that's in reserve grade or first grade.
โI think it's important that they get every opportunity to secure a deal going forward and I know that I'm leaving the club in a really good place. As a squad, we are in a really good position and have a lot of depth.
โIt would have been selfish of me to keep playing the rest of the year and prevent someone else from having that opportunity.โ
While he didn't rule out a return to the professional game in either Australia or England, the former halfback has found a home in cricket this summer.
He spent almost the entire day at the crease on Saturday, scoring 126 not out as his team held on for a draw in a match against Tuggeranong Valley.
Speaking to The Canberra Times, he said he missed playing cricket because of rugby league, and wanted to try and get a score before his retirement from sport.
"I know that I missed out on a large portion of my career because I didn't get to play cricket," Williams told the publication.
"I wanted to try and get a score before the window closes. It was massive achieving that on Saturday.
"It was going to be a hollow feeling if we didn't get the result. The innings would have meant nothing to myself and the team. Once we got through the final over it was a bit of relief. We didn't win but sometimes a draw is just as exciting."
