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Lane: The moment I knew it was time to retire
Nicholas Quinlan • August 15th, 2025 3:42 pm
Shaun Lane has revealed the moment he knew it was time to call it quits on his NRL career.
The decision to retire was officially confirmed by the Eels on Thursday, but according to lane, has been in the back of his mind for almost 18 months.
Lane played 186 games across 11 seasons for the Bulldogs, Warriors, and Sea-Eagles. While he did feature for all those sides briefly, most of his appearances came with the Eels, which included the 2022 grand final.
Speaking about his decision, the 30-year-old said it had been stewing away since the start of 2024 and after stepping away in April this year, he knew that he had played his final game.
“I’ve had time off for the last three or four months, but I pretty much knew once I decided to take time off that I wouldn’t play again,” Lane said on SEN’s Afternoons with Jimmy Smith.
“I’ve kind of just been mulling over the decision for probably the last 12 to 18 months.
“I just wasn’t really enjoying playing footy anymore, and my body was pulling up sore day after day, and I’d rock up to games feeling sore and not really keen to play.
“And I didn’t really have anything that I really wanted to chase that hard anymore, so the motivation fell off a cliff and from there, the performance just starts to go as well.
Reflecting on his career, Lane felt that the proudest moment was the 2022 Preliminary Final when the Eels travelled to Townsville and defeated North Queensland to secure a spot in the Grand Final.
“Getting into the GF, that was an unbelievable experience, and I think (the preliminary final) it was one of the best games that I played under the big lights," he said.
“(It was) probably the biggest moment of my career to that point, and while we didn’t get the win in the grand final in ’22, we came up against one of the best teams in all time (in the Penrith Panthers).
“It was an outstanding year for Parramatta, the team and for myself. That was my best year, also.”
While Lane might be closing the door on his NRL career, he will not be lost to the rugby league world, having taken up a role with Parramatta’s NRLW elite pathways focusing on mental health and player welfare.
This area of study has been an interest for him, having completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences, a Graduate Diploma in Psychology and is currently in the process of completing a Master's in Positive Psychology.
“I think just being around sport, I got interested into health and exercise science and whatnot,” he elaborated.
“It was when I was in my mid-20s that I started to understand my own personal relationship with the study of psychology a bit better.
“My Dad has been suffering from depression for most of his adult life and my entire life, so, definitely a strong personal connection in there to understand why people think, behave and do the things that they do.
“Once I got connected to learning about psychology, I straight away just connected with it and started looking into it deeply.
“And eventually it got to the point where I’ve got more interest in my studies and getting into work in that field rather than concentrating on football.
“So just another sign that it was time to kind of move on.”
