Is this the final year for ... the Australian sporting stars set to retire or switch allegiances in 2025
Father Time, a change of scenery, and injuries - these are the high-profile Australian athletes facing tough decisions in 2025.
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Father Time, a change of scenery, and injuries have left some of Australia’s biggest sporting stars weighing up whether to hang up the boots or switch allegiances in 2025.
Is this the final year for ...
USMAN KHAWAJA (CRICKET)
The 38-year-old Test opener is living on the edge, his career with the Australian team a series to series prospect after a rather lean summer saved by a half century in Melbourne and lack of options for immediate replacement. Khawaja has earmarked next summer’s Ashes as his swansong. The challenge will be whether he survives that long or selectors find someone to partner Sam Konstas and build for the future on the Sri Lanka Test tour starting in late January.
NATHAN LYON (CRICKET)
At 37 the Australian spinner has given no indication that he is eyeing retirement, but the numbers don’t lie. Lyon is having one of his leanest summers of his career against India and if he has an equally tough Sri Lankan tour – and a second Australian spinner outshines him on those dusty decks – could selectors be tempted to move on from the GOAT and give a new spinner a shot in next summer’s Ashes?
BERNARD TOMIC (TENNIS)
How long will Tomic keep battling away on the ATP Challenger tour before he gets fed-up with the grind of the lower-tier tennis and retires? He’s only 32 but Tomic, who has dragged his ranking from the world tennis wilderness back to the 200s, has a history of struggling to keep his focus when the going gets tough. Time will tell.
ADAM REYNOLDS (RUGBY LEAGUE)
A frustrating 2024 campaign left Broncos fans wondering if Reynolds’ mesmerising 2023 season was a dream. Can the little maestro stay healthy enough for another crack at trophy? And if he doesn’t, will Brisbane – or any other club for that matter – risk a chance with the 35-year-old in 2026?
DALY CHERRY-EVANS (RUGBY LEAGUE)
The Queensland skipper has done it all in the sport, including an amazing second coming as a State of Origin star. While he would no doubt be keen to help steer his beloved Manly back to the NRL title picture, having won a grand final in 2011, at 35 he really has nothing else to prove and could retire after this season with an incredible legacy.
KALYN PONGA (RUGBY LEAGUE)
Obviously not in his career, but is there a scenario where this is his final season at the Knights? The league’s highest paid player has had a taste of finals football, but hasn’t gotten close to a title shot. How long can Newcastle’s drought go before Ponga starts looking sideways?
JOE SCHMIDT (RUGBY UNION)
The Wallabies coach is only contracted until the end of the Lions series in 2025 and although Australian rugby officials have made it clear they want him to extend his time in charge, there is a very strong chance he walks away. Schmidt only ever agreed to a short-term deal, a quick fix solution to Australia’s post-Eddie Jones disaster before retiring to spend more time with family.
PATRICK DANGERFIELD (AUSSIE RULES)
The end is near for one of the biggest impact players of the AFL across the past 15 years. An eight-time All-Australian, 2016 Brownlow Medal winner and 2022 premiership player, Dangerfield has done it all across a decorated career but has succumbed to soft-tissue injuries over the past four years. The Geelong star turns 35 in April but will be looking to go out with a bang if this is his last dance.
SCOTT PENDLEBURY (AUSSIE RULES)
A modern marvel, Pendlebury delivers as often as a courier. The Collingwood great’s professionalism and preparation have allowed him to continue playing at a high standard across more than 400 games – and there are more to come after he signed a one-year contract extension last July. Pendlebury will enter his 20th AFL season aged 37 and needs to play only five more games to move to third on the all-time AFL/VFL games played leader board.
DAYNE ZORKO (AUSSIE RULES)
The Brisbane Lions ball-magnet finally secured a premiership in 2024 but still has some fuel left in the tank as he prepares for a 14th AFL campaign which he will enter at the age of 36. Statistically, last season was the best of Zorko’s career and he earned All-Australian honours for a second time after not missing a game. If the former Lions skipper can again stay on the park throughout 2025, the 300-game milestone is within reach. Zorko currently sits on 277 AFL games.
KATRINA GORRY (FOOTBALL)
The 32-year-old Matildas midfielder said in the lead up to the 2024 Paris Olympics that the tournament could be her last major tournament for the national team. The West Ham United player has suffered several injuries in 2024 – will she push on to the 2026 Asian Cup?
PATTY MILLS (BASKETBALL)
What more is there left to say about Patty Mills. The 36-year-old Boomers mainstay continues to ply his trade with the Utah Jazz in the NBA, providing the club with shooting and veteran leadership. But after the better part of 15 years in the American league, a championship with the Spurs and an Olympic Bronze medal, he could bow out after the current season with one hell of a career behind him.
BEN SIMMONS (BASKETBALL)
This might not be the final year we see Ben Simmons in the NBA but it will almost certainly be the last of his big-money run in the American league. Coming to the end of a rich multimillion-dollar five-year deal, Simmons will most certainly be shuffled on from the Brooklyn Nets, with the club in rebuild mode. And where he lands or what type of money he might command will be a genuine mystery.
ALEX VOLKANOVSKI (UFC)
Volk is quite possibly this country’s greatest fighter when it comes to the Octagon. His run as UFC featherweight champion from 2019 to 2024 was dominant, even almost capturing the lightweight belt during that reign. But at 36 he is coming off losses in three of his past four fights and you have to wonder whether Alex ‘The Great’ might be weighing up placing his gloves in the centre of the ring if he can’t recapture the belt.
ANGE POSTECOGLOU (FOOTBALL)
There’s no chance of Big Ange retiring, but will he last the year at Tottenham? With the Spurs in the midst of an injury crisis and struggling for wins in the EPL, it seems the only way Ange can keep the wolves at bay will be to continue his stunning streak of winning a trophy in his second year at every club he has ever coached. In this instance, it is the Carabao Cup with the Spurs first leg of the semi-finals against Liverpool on January 9.
Originally published as Is this the final year for ... the Australian sporting stars set to retire or switch allegiances in 2025
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