Kimmorley retires for Dogs coaching role
Champion Bulldogs halfback Brett Kimmorley turned his back on offers from six clubs to take up a coaching role at the NRL club.
The 33-year-old revealed he had been courted by clubs such as Canberra, Cronulla and Parramatta as recently as Wednesday night in the hope that he could be convinced to play another season.
But in the end it was the opportunity to stick with the Bulldogs and begin the journey towards an NRL coaching career which swayed the 1999 Clive Churchill medallist.
In accepting the two-year assistant coaching deal, Kimmorley will now be in charge of mentoring the players signed to replace him in the halves, Trent Hodkinson and Kris Keating.
Bulldogs head coach Kevin Moore described it as "a great decision for the club".
"It's tremendous that Brett's going to play a great role in (developing) Trent and hopefully steer him in the right direction," Moore said.
"If (Hodkinson) can have half the success that Brett has had, he'll be a pretty good player for the club."
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenburg said the decision was a "tremendous coup" for the club.
"Noddy won't say this but he's been chased by more than half a dozen clubs in the last couple of months all wanting him to pull on their jersey for next year," Greenburg said.
"This is a significant coup for our club to have someone of his expertise and talent on our coaching staff next year.
"We're absolutely delighted for what Brett Kimmorley has done for the very short time he's been here in the two years, but we see him (having) a very long, significant future as part of our coaching staff."
Kimmorley admitted the decision had weighed on his mind for a lot longer than he had prepared for, but he was relieved to have finally drawn the curtain on a 16-year playing career.
"It's probably dragged out a lot, lot longer than I would've liked it to," he said.
"But I think I had to be 100 per cent committed and sure that I was finished and that meant leaving here and I just think I wasn't in a situation to leave this club - I feel like I've found a home here.
"I still had phone calls up until last night wanting my playing days to continue, but I feel like I've made the right decision."
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