Former NRL star Craig Field breaks silence for the first time following eight-year jail sentence for killer punch

When Craig Field was jailed for eight years back in 2014, the rugby league world stopped and shuddered.

The former Manly Sea Eagles and South Sydney star has spent time at 12 different jails throughout New South Wales, taking jobs such as an apple picker and tractor driver.

He was jailed in 2014 for manslaughter after punching Kelvin Kane during a fight in a pub carpark back in July 2012.

Unfortunately, Kane was knocked unconscious and later died in hospital and now Field has broken his silence.

“This will be the last time I really want to talk about it,” Field told the Daily Telegraph.

“The only reason I did this interview was to cleanse myself. People will now know that I’m out. I want to do this once and then I want to move forward.”

Field hated jail, but spoke about just how much he is excited to spend his life with his family – who have stuck by him ever since.

“It’s a feeling that is hard to describe. There is a lot of adrenaline and emotion. But I have served my time and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life with my family,” Field said.

“I have changed a lot as a human being in areas where I needed to change.

“I have also changed because of the predicament I put myself into and then the incarceration. But I feel strong, I feel good and I feel mentally tough.

Field added: “Honestly, I didn’t enjoy one day of it. I wasn’t comfortable in jail for one second. There are a lot of bad people in there.

“But jail teaches you that it’s easy to judge. People judge you but no one knows the reason behind it. It has made me look at things differently and not judge people straight away.

“I now know what I’m talking about when it comes to choice, poor choices and what’s in the real world.