Jermaine McGillvary has confirmed that he will be walking away from Rugby League at the completion of the 2024 season.
After 17 seasons as a professional and over 350 appearances, the legendary winger will hang his boots up following the final Wakefield Trinity game of the year.
A man known for his try scoring exploits and his powerful ball carrying, McGillvary has been a modern great of Super League and English Rugby throughout his career.
McGillvary sits sixth on the list of all time Super League Try Scorers having scored 196 times in the competition and was part of the England side that played in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Final
The now 36-year old made the switch from football after initially giving up on junior Rugby League and joined the Huddersfield Giants Reserve side in 2008 as a 20-year old.
After loan spells in 2009 and 2010 with Batley Bulldogs and Barrow Raiders, it was the 2011 season where Jerry cemented his place within the Giants first team playing in all but one game, scoring 17 tries and taking home the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal.
McGillvary was a vital member of the Giants League Leaders Shield winning team in 2013 and went on to make 312 appearances in the Claret and Gold before leaving the club at the end of the 2023 season.
He left the club having made one Super League Dream Team appearance in 2015 and playing in the Giants narrow defeat in the 2022 Challenge Cup Final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Jerry made his England debut in 2015 going on to earn 17 caps and scoring 12 tries in his time for the national side. The 2017 Rugby League World Cup saw McGillvary score seven tries and make more meters than any other player. He also made 4 appearances on the 2019 Great Britain tour of the Southern Hemisphere.
Ahead of the 2024 season, the winger made the switch to Wakefield Trinity where McGillvary has continued his typical destructive form. This season, he made his first ever appearance at Wembley scoring two tries in Trinity’s AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final victory.
On retiring, Jermaine McGillvary said: “Being able to make my family proud has been amazingly special and also the best part about my career!
I’m so grateful for what the game has done for me. There’s been some low points but they have made me appreciate all the highs. I’ve traveled the world and made so many memories along the way, it has truly been a blessing. The 2017 World Cup in Australia probably being the most stand out for me, getting to lock horns with the world’s best and showing what I was capable of on the biggest stage.
I’d like to thank all of my teammates past & present, staff, the fans & also people within and outside of rugby league who have helped me along the way as without you all I wouldn’t have been the player I became…forever grateful!”