Bradford Bulls prop Joe Vagana will retire from rugby league at the end of the 2008 season, with this Monday's game against Hull KR set to be his last at the Grattan Stadium.

Vagana, who joined the Bulls in 2001 from Auckland Warriors and has spent eight seasons at the club, has made 239 appearances, scoring 19 tries and 1 goal.

Speaking of his decision to retire, Vagana said: “For a player it’s always hard to say when but I think the time is right for me now to make the ultimate decision. I have been at Bradford for eight years and a professional for fifteen and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it but the old body is telling me to give it away!! We have some great players coming through here; players like Sam Burgess, Andy Lynch and Koppy and I just feel the time is right to hang up my boots and enjoy the game from the sidelines.”

Bulls Coach Steve McNamara paid this tribute to his Prop Forward: “Joe has probably been up there with Robbie Paul as the most significant overseas signing the club has ever made. In terms of overall contributions to the club both on and off the field, his presence is simply immense and there will be a whole host of players who will be glad to see the back of Joe Vagana, so they don’t have to play against him.

"He will be a great loss to the club on the field and also off it because of shear amount of work he has done for the club in that area. He has been a tremendous ambassador for Rugby League and for Bradford Bulls and for me personally – getting my first Head Coaches job – he has been a vital part of what I have done. To have had Joe Vagana in the organisation to help me along the way has been a massive bonus for me and I’d like to thank him personally for that. It goes without saying that we all wish him every success in whichever avenue he decides to take.”



Bulls Chairman Peter Hood feels that Vagana has been a fine example to everyone in the game.

“He will be sadly missed, not just for his often super-human efforts on the field these past eight seasons but, equally, for his contribution around the Club and in the Bradford community at large. Joe was given the sobriquet ‘Big Joe’ early in his Bradford career. An equally appropriate handle would have been ‘Gentleman Joe’, for Joe’s disciplinary record is one of the best, if not the best, on record for any prop forward in the modern game. As an example of how to play the game hard but fair, how to bring oneself to a winning team in the right frame of mind week in week out and how a professional player should conduct themselves on and off the field one need look no further than the one and only…Joe Vagana.”