{"id":182268,"date":"2017-06-26T14:06:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T04:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=182268"},"modified":"2020-09-11T11:39:24","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T01:39:24","slug":"injuries-force-ballin-to-quit-nrl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/06\/26\/injuries-force-ballin-to-quit-nrl\/","title":{"rendered":"Injuries Force Ballin To Quit NRL"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Wests Tigers honoured Matt Ballin on Monday with this collage of photos (Photo: Wests Tiger Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Matt Ballin was the guest speaker at the Kingaroy State High School sports awards night in 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 26, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Kingaroy Red Ant Matt Ballin announced his retirement from the NRL on Monday, effective immediately.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old\u00a0Wests Tigers\u00a0hooker has played 220 NRL games but only made one appearance for the Tigers this year due to injury.<\/p>\n

After leaving Kingaroy, Ballin played in junior grades with the Brisbane Broncos but made his NRL debut in 2007 with the\u00a0Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, scoring a try on debut.<\/p>\n

He was part of Manly’s premiership-winning 2008 and 2011 teams but suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2015.<\/p>\n

He signed a two-year contract with Wests Tigers in 2016 but only played one Reserve Grade and two NRL games for the Tigers that year before again succumbing to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Ballin – the son of well-known former Kingaroy High School principal David Ballin – also earned a Queensland jersey as hooker for the Maroons in Game 1 of the 2010 State of Origin series, which Queensland won 28-24 before a crowd of more than 68,000 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Wests Tigers says Ballin will remain heavily involved with the club for the remainder of 2017 as he continues his rehabilitation and takes part in a player transition program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He will also remain a major part of the club\u2019s community programs.<\/p>\n

Ballin told Wests Tiger Media he felt lucky to have played even one NRL game, let alone 220.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d play in the NRL, I never thought I\u2019d accomplish that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do that at the Sea Eagles was one of the first steps in a long career that I\u2019ve been very lucky to have. Just playing first grade was a massive accomplishment for me and something I\u2019d always wanted to do since I was a young kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing successful and making the friendships I did at Manly was great, but coming to Wests Tigers for the past two years has also been incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t played much footy, but I\u2019ve met some great people and been able to help off the field, which I hadn\u2019t been able to do as much before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of an evolution for me, going from a young guy who just wants to play footy to winning competitions to now getting to the end of it and being able to help the next generation come through.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Mum and Dad, and my two brothers have been amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support and love and care they gave me growing up and all the way through to the end of my career has been fantastic as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ones that are close to you, particularly my wife Shannon and my kids, I can\u2019t thank them enough. They see the ups and the downs and yet they support you all the way through, I couldn\u2019t say anything but I love them and I\u2019m very thankful for their support.”<\/p>\n

Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe thanked Ballin for the role he has played at the club.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank Matt for all of his efforts during his time here at Wests Tigers,\u201d Justin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile unfortunately his time on the field has been limited, he\u2019s had a major impact off it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a part of our leadership group almost since day one, which speaks volumes about his character and standing in the game.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Kingaroy Red Ant Matt Ballin announced his retirement from the NRL on Monday, effective immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":182281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,82,6],"tags":[1140],"yoast_head":"\nInjuries Force Ballin To Quit NRL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Kingaroy Red Ant Matt Ballin announced his retirement from the NRL on Monday, effective immediately.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/06\/26\/injuries-force-ballin-to-quit-nrl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Injuries Force Ballin To Quit NRL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former 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