Flatley calls it quits
16 Mar 2006
Wallaby utility back Elton Flatley has retired from all levels of rugby after losing his battle with ongoing head problems.
Flatley announced on Thursday that after medical advice about his continued problems with blurred vision, he had decided to make the tough decision to walk away from the game.
Flatley played 38 Tests for the Wallabies, 85 Super Rugby games for the Reds and earned more than 100 caps for Queensland. He has been lauded by leading figures in the game for his enormous contribution to Aus rugger.
ARU CEO Gary Flowers praised Flatley for his achievements.
“Elton is an extremely talented player who has made a strong contribution to the success of the Wallabies, and his premature retirement is a great loss to the game in Australia,” he said. “Well liked and respected by all who have played with him and against him, Flatley established himself as one of the class inside backs in world.
“Elton has received ongoing advice from specialists in Melbourne and Brisbane in recent times, and the most important thing is that he has not suffered any long-term or permanent injury,” said Flowers.
Flatley played his last match a week ago against the Force in Brisbane. He was substituted early on and seemed reluctant to take contact. This was in contrast to the way he has always played his game and it is obvious he had taken another knock to the head during the game.
14 Comments
16 Mar 2006, 09:47 am
Good Luck mate!!! Sad to see a great player leave the game of rugby like this..
16 Mar 2006, 09:49 am
Bad luck. An excellent player. Will be missed.
16 Mar 2006, 09:51 am
Best wishes to Flatley. You have to be a good bloke to play for a team like Queensland and not complain.
16 Mar 2006, 09:51 am
doesn’t sound too good.
16 Mar 2006, 09:55 am
Whilst he didn’t have the attacking flair of say a Larkham or Spencer he was a damm solid player with a great goal kicking boot.
16 Mar 2006, 11:00 am
Knocks to the head cuase blurred vision.
You just might be next… Richie McCaw !
16 Mar 2006, 11:09 am
Sensible thing to do – walk away while you still can. A solid, gutsy player. I have one of his test jerseys framed in my boardroom, from the Gabba test in 2002.
Go well, Elton. Our best wishes to you.
16 Mar 2006, 11:16 am
Mccaw will be next if he takes another one to the head.
16 Mar 2006, 11:30 am
Best wishes to Elton. He was a good player, I’d have had him in the Aussie team ahead of Giteau, provided good stability and direction to their backline, plus an excellent kicker. Thanks for the memories
16 Mar 2006, 11:30 am
lol i played my last full season at school due to bad concussion. didn’t quite push it to the blurry vision level. might have if i was any good..
16 Mar 2006, 13:36 pm
Flatfoot is a real leg end.
16 Mar 2006, 13:37 pm
The loss of a great back to the game. All the best to Elton Flatley.
17 Mar 2006, 05:03 am
I never rated him until I saw the Reds play the Warratahs last year (eeks – maybe two years ago.) On paper there was no way Queensland had a hope. Flatley and Latham just munted them – and took the win. A ton of guts. Looked at him differently ever since then.
17 Mar 2006, 07:23 am
Anvil, Leon Macdonald is still playing and he has worse head knocks than Flately and McCaw.
Didn’t Macdonald clash heads once with Krige?
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