The NRL managed to stuff up its farewell to Dene Halatau

DENE Halatau was the first victim of Sunday’s grand final and he wasn’t even playing as the retiring star’s ego copped an unfair whack.

Halatau finished his career in 2016.

EVERY grand final the NRL’s retiring stars are given a send off.

It’s the chance for the football community to thank them for their service to the game and congratulate them on their respective careers.

In 2016 we said goodbye to the likes of Dene Halatau, Anthony Watmough, Joel Reddy and Corey Parker to name just a few.

Former Sea Eagle, Eel and NSW representative Watmough got the biggest cheer out of the line-up after he had to call it quits due to a chronic knee injury that prematurely ended his time on the field.

After beginning his NRL career with the Wests Tigers, Halatau spent a few years at the Bulldogs before returning to Leichhardt to finish his playing days with the joint-venture club.

The New Zealand international played almost 250 first grade games and won a premiership with Wests in 2005.

The back-rower, who occasionally filled in at dummy-half, will be remembered as a Tigers stalwart. He captained the club this year after Robbie Farah gave up his leadership duties.

It’s safe to say he’s earnt the respect of the rugby league world.

But unfortunately for him, his goodbye wasn’t executed as smoothly as some.

Each retiree who walked out onto the ANZ Stadium turf held the hand of a small boy and was followed close behind by someone carrying a flag with their name written on it.

But his name was spelt incorrectly on the flag. It was written “Dean” instead of “Dene”.

And how hard is it to spell a guy's name right? DENE Halatau #NRLGF pic.twitter.com/9shBUpFgdI

— Catherine Botman (@cat_botman) October 2, 2016

Did noone check the spelling of Dene Halatau's name on his retirement tribute flag? He's only been playing for 13 years. Deserves better 😒

— CommonPlace (@In_the_deep_end) October 2, 2016

YOU HAD ONE JOB #NRLGF pic.twitter.com/JQn1vQsSEb

— maureen larkin (@maur_l) October 2, 2016

That’s not exactly the way to say goodbye to a stadium full of footy fans for the final time.

Nigel Plum was another who left our game this year.

He was as old-fashioned a footballer as they come. No fuss, nothing fancy, he just ran hard and tackled harder. He started his career with the Roosters before moving on to play with Canberra, but he undoubtedly played his best footy for the Panthers.

He played 150 NRL games all up — and nearly 100 of those were in Penrith’s black jersey.

His name was spelt correctly, but rather than the flag attracting the attention, the guy carrying it wanted to steal the limelight.

He pulled funny faces in the background as the camera focused on Plum. Some punters at home seemed to think he was trying to pull off a “Fatty head wobble” — a reference to Paul Vautin’s idiosyncrasy on The Footy Show.

It might be the only time this guy ever gets on TV, so he wanted to make sure it was an appearance to remember.

Originally published as The NRL managed to stuff up its farewell to Dene Halatau