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Lyttelton player-coach Jonathan Poff’s rugby career ended on the right note on Saturday with a 50-5 win over Burnside.
“It was a great feeling,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve been grappling with this whole season, I’ve been on the verge of hanging the boots up. But the joy I get to run out with the boys at the ripe old age of 43 and just to know you can still kick it with the young boys, it’s been a real cool experience.”
Poff played seven years of professional rugby with Tasman, the Crusaders and London Wasps, before injury effectively ended his top-level career.
His final game in professional rugby came in 2013 for the Barbarians against England.
“It’s not like you go there and do a fitness test, it’s like you go there and pick up a handle of beer,” he said.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you really had to pinch yourself just being in that environment.”
But a hip injury that developed during his time in London eventually brought his career to a halt, leaving him unable to even complete basic tasks.
“It came down to an old injury that I hadn’t gotten treated around my hip joint which sparked a bit of arthritis. In that last season it was just bone on bone,” he said.
“Thirty-three years old and here’s me not even being able to tie my shoelaces up.”
He returned home in 2013 and became a carpenter, a trade he still works in today.
Hip replacement surgery followed in 2016, and for a time he believed his playing days were over for good.
But two years later, he began to feel like himself again physically. While not actively chasing a return to rugby, he no longer ruled it out.
That pathway eventually led him to Lyttelton, initially as a supporter watching his younger brother Chris play, before being approached by team manager John Fisher.
“He roped me in a little bit, I saw the environment and the personnel and it just got me excited,” Poff said.
“I said I’ll come and train on Wednesday and I suppose the rest is history.”
From there, a full season back on the field led to a year on the sidelines, then a return as assistant coach – before the pull of playing again proved too strong.
He eventually stepped into a player-coach role, typically coming off the bench for 20–25 minutes at a time.
Last year, he was part of Lyttelton’s title-winning side – an achievement he still holds “dear” to his heart.
Saturday’s win kept Lyttelton’s finals hopes alive in the Metro premier reserve competition, with the side sitting just one point behind Marist Albion and Linwood in third and fourth.
“For a game to be so on the line for us to try and make that top four run and the way we put it together on Saturday, it was an awesome feeling,” he said.
Two rounds remain, with Lyttelton set to face 13th-placed Sumner before finishing against bottom side Shirley.
Poff’s decision to finally step away came after the familiar warning signs returned in his hip – the same injury that had derailed his professional career.
“It’s that constant little mozzie in your ear reminding you, what are you doing running around with the boys still,” he said.
Away from rugby, he has three children – Layla, 13, Nova, 11, and Rocco, 9 – and said being present as a father was a major factor in his decision to retire for good.