Rugby League Gold Coast: Kane Elgey crowned A-grade player of the season after dominant return

Kane Elgey burst onto the NRL scene but by 25 he was lost to the game. Five years later, he has cleaned up in his rare return. He opens up on loving life as a termite inspector and why he doesn’t regret a thing.

Kane Elgey in the Gold Coast Rugby League A Grade Grand Final as Tugun Sea Eagles v Currumbin Eagles at Tugun RLC. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Kane Elgey was never short of talent.

His NRL career had begun with promise and sparkle, but four short years after he was crowned Gold Coast Titans rookie of the year as a 21-year-old, he had given the game away entirely.

25 years of age and lost to rugby league.

Until this season that was. The crafty playmaker was coaxed out of retirement five years later for one last hoorah with his boyhood club, the Tugun Seahawks.

In case you’d forgotten, he can seriously play. Elgey spearheaded the Seahawks’ special Rugby League Gold Coast premiership charge and delivered the club its first senior premiership in eight years, adding to the two he had won as a junior.

To top it off, he was crowned the A-grade player of the season at the league’s awards night on Saturday. When you throw in leading A-grade points scorer, player of the match in the grand final, and premiership player; it’s certainly a handy haul.

Kane Elgey’s classy kicking game in full swing. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“It was tough, I decided I was going to play six weeks before round one, so I had six weeks to train,” Elgey said.

“My body’s a lot smaller and I hadn’t been doing gym, hadn’t been running, so it was a tough start, I was surprised I played every game but I’m just glad it all worked out.”

While the individual accolades were a “nice bonus”, Elgey said the premiership had long been a dream of his - since his NRL days in fact.

“I always said I wanted to go back (to Tugun), in my career I finished pretty early and came home, it took me five years after having a son and I think the main drive was just for him to watch me do something,” he said.

“I’m so happy, it’s a good finish to the year, and I just had a baby girl two weeks ago.”

Kane Elgey passes the footy in the Gold Coast Rugby League A Grade Grand Final. Picture: Glenn Campbell

It was Tugun captain-coach Will Johnstone - the son of renowned player and later strength and conditioning coach Billy - that gave Elgey the push he needed to lace on the boots for one final season.

“If Will didn’t reach out to me that many times I probably wouldn’t have done it, he made me realise that I want to do it and once I got in it was fine,” Elgey said.

“It was just that five-year break, it was a big risk, I hadn’t played in a long time, I was grateful for Will.

“I won’t be playing again, it was always just the one year, but I did enjoy it.”

The return may have been smooth sailing for Elgey, but not so much for his former Titans teammate and great mate Nathan Peats, who lined up alongside Elgey at Tugun but busted his shoulder in round three and needed surgery, ruling him out for the season.

Across the course of the year, Elgey was able to rekindle his love for rugby league. He said he harbours no regrets about his early exit from the professional realm of the sport, and has since found contentment.

Kane Elgey during a Gold Coast Titans training session on the Gold Coast training session in 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

“My story’s very different to some people, I finished because I didn’t want to play anymore, and that’s the honest truth,” Elgey said.

“I was a young kid and signed a big contract here on the Gold Coast, the results probably didn’t happen and we had a mix of coaches that came in and out.

“It just got to a point where, to be brutally honest, I’d rather go surfing than play football on the weekend. Some people will keep playing but I wasn’t there for money and I wasn’t happy, so me and my wife just said ‘let’s just go home.’

“To be honest, I do not regret it one bit, not a day goes by that I regret finishing. I was pretty happy with what I’d done in a short career.”

After dabbling in several different careers post-playing, including a stint as a pathways coach at the Titans, Elgey’s now working as a termite and building inspector.

“I’m just doing that locally on the Gold Coast and happy being a normal guy with a young family,” he said.