James Cunningham has announced his decision to call time on his playing days at the age of 30. Cunningham made 191 appearances during his 13 seasons as a rugby league player, taking in stints at Hull FC, London Broncos, Huddersfield Giants and Toulouse Olympique.
However, he hangs up his boots after spending two seasons with York Knights in the Championship, with his last ever game coming in October as Mark Applegarth’s side were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Wakefield Trinity. A versatile player, Cunningham spent time at hooker, loose-forward and half-back over the course of his career with most of his outings coming in the colours of London Broncos.
He made 121 appearances for the Broncos over two spells and touched down for 33 tries, while also helping the club to Super League promotion in 2018. He also spent time with Doncaster and Toronto Wolfpack, playing three times for the latter before the club pulled out of Super League.
Announcing his decision on Instagram, he wrote: “25 years after my first training session, I’ve finally hung up my boots.
“Grateful for all that the game has brought me, a career, great pals and memories. I couldn’t have done it without my family, especially my mam and dad, I know it’s cliché, but thanks for all the early Sunday morning support and for never letting me miss a training session.
“Thanks for being my biggest fans, my biggest critics and putting up with my s–t over the years, I couldn’t have carried on playing for all those years, after all of those injuries and hardships, if it wasn’t for you.
“And thanks to my beautiful wife Maria, you support me unconditionally every day and I count myself the luckiest man in the world that I get to spend the rest of my life with you and this family that we’ve made together. You’ve taught me so much over the past few years and the most relevant thing to this post is that you’ve taught me retirement from professional sport isn’t the end, for us it’s just the beginning and we’ve got our best years ahead of us.”
