After the final whistle
By James Wong
The first story James King tells me is the same story he relates to a room full of sponsors and guests at the Moorabbin Rugby Club a few minutes later.
It's about why, after nearly a decade of travelling the world as a professional rugby player, he chose to return to this patch of grass tucked away in an industrial suburb of Melbourne.
It's about love, it’s about family.
King has recently returned from perhaps the pinnacle of his rugby career – international tests representing the USA – but he will not be chasing another contract. He is in a place that every professional athlete finds themselves eventually; that point in their career when they know things are coming to an end.
“I’m looking to start winding down my rugby, focusing a bit more on those things that mean more to me now - my family,” said King.
As he goes through this transition what are the lessons that he and others have learned about life after that final whistle blows. What will they miss,