Professional athletes including Michael Gordon and Dan Mortimer discuss transition into retirement
WHEN professional sport has been your life, what do you do when it suddenly comes to an end? In an in-depth Bulletin report, a host of elite-level stars discuss the transition into retirement.
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WHEN professional sport has been your life for almost 15 years, what do you do when it suddenly comes to an end?
It is a scenario Titans veteran Michael Gordon has been preparing for since announcing his retirement early last month.
“Obviously there’ll be certain aspects you’ll miss with footy like the camaraderie that comes with doing tough pre-seasons, but being back home and being able to surf and having more time with the kids (will be good). I can see myself missing certain parts of footy but I reckon I’m going to have a pretty smooth transition,” the 35-year-old father-of-two said.
But Gordon is one of the lucky ones.
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Signed by Penrith in 2005, the Tweed Coast product has spent the ensuing years traversing the NRL landscape while testing the waters of a post-football career.
After 108 games with the Panthers, the man nicknamed Flash moved to Cronulla for three seasons before two one-year stints with Parramatta and the Sydney Roosters.
Gordon’s return home to the Gold Coast in 2018 has proved crucial in setting up for life after football, with he and wife Tess buying a coffee shop at Cabarita Beach.
Preparing for his 261st and final NRL game in the Titans’ battle with St George-Illawarra at Robina tonight, Gordon is also hopeful of securing a part-time coaching role with the club next season.
His path, however, hasn’t always been so clear cut.
“I’ve done business courses and personal training. I tried to tick all boxes to see what I liked and what I didn’t like,” he said.
“I worked a fair bit before I started playing footy too so I knew what the real world involved. That was the idea when we bought the coffee shop – it was a great lifestyle business and that’s what we’re after.
“Since being back home, it’s all been about lifestyle, not necessarily making a million dollars. (The shop’s) been doing really well and all the locals love it so it’s great.
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“Being back home and with all my mates I grew up with, we are all really close and we’ve all got kids around the same age. If I was in Sydney still I’d probably be struggling a lot but having that good group of friends around to transition into retirement (will be important).”
Another former Titan, Daniel Mortimer, admits he would have been “a bit lost” if not for some forward-thinking prior to his retirement at the end of last year.
The son of Canterbury Bulldogs legend Peter Mortimer, the 30-year-old played 10 seasons at the top level – including a 35-game stint on the Coast from 2014-16 – before deciding his body had been through enough.
Now working as a PE teacher at Pimpama State Secondary College, he said the transition had not been without its share of speed bumps.
“I had a degree in teaching that I finished in 2015 so I had a back-up-plan. It’s been quite handy to have because I would’ve been a bit lost otherwise,” Mortimer, a 128-game NRL utility, said.
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“A lot of players finish footy and they lose that purpose. It’s the one thing in life you have always had a passion for and then it’s behind you.
“I have still got a few good mates (at the Titans) that I catch up with frequently. Anthony Don and Ryan James are probably the two I’m still quite close with.”
Gordon’s former Cronulla teammate and 16-Test Kangaroo Luke Lewis shed light on his tough initiation to retirement earlier this season, revealing the loss of structure in daily life that comes with professional sport had been destabilising.
He has since found solidity as a commentator with Fox Sports and ABC Grandstand.
“To be honest, when I first retired I felt hollow,” the 36-year-old, who called time on his 18-season career at the end of 2018, said.
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“The first month was easy because you were getting paid. After that you have no structure.
“I’ve been told from such a young age what to do and where to be. Your whole day is planned and you take it for granted.
“When I was playing I had a daily goal, a weekly goal, a monthly goal. Now I don’t know what my goal is and what my passion is.
“You need to get into a routine and you need to be really strict. The best thing I did was join a gym ... I felt I still had that camaraderie.”
The importance of planning for a post-sporting career is not lost on Queensland Firebirds netballer Gretel Tippett.
Still just 26, the Coast product - and sister of former AFL stars Kurt and Joel Tippett - knows her time at the top will not last forever.
“I have had the luxury of my brothers going through that transition in recent times,” Tippett, who is studying a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics part-time at Griffith University, said.
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“They keep reiterating how important it is to keep studying while you’re playing. It’s a hard juggle at times and mum and dad cop the brunt of it when I’m tired and frustrated.”
After 236 AFL games across 15 years, Gold Coast Suns midfielder Michael Rischitelli is now entering the transition into life after footy but admits he is yet to devise a concrete plan.
“I have a few options (but) nothing set in stone yet,” Rischitelli, 33, said.
“I just want to finish off the year … then spend some time with the family and then reassess after that.”
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