MARK O'Meley will leave a legacy at Hull FC for years to come, according to those who have played alongside him and coached him. The 32-year-old has been forced to call time on his glittering career after sustaining knee ligament damage in the Challenge Cup final.
Already set to retire and head home to Australia at the end of the season, the former Aussie Test prop has seen his campaign cut short because of injury.
It brings an end to four years at Hull for the fans' favourite, who arrived for the 2010 campaign with Test and State of Origin caps to his name as well as an NRL Grand Final win.
Four years ago vice-captain Danny Houghton was still making his way at Hull. And he says the arrival of a player he describes as a legend was instrumental in showing him the way forward.
"The players will have learnt a lot from him. You only have to watch how he conducts himself in training and he never takes a short cut," Houghton said.
"If he is in the gym and we have to do eight reps, then he does all eight reps. If he's told to run around a cone and nobody is watching, he'll always run around the cone.
"As a young kid that is something you look up to and I've taken that into my career. He's a legend. He's a competitor and every single day he turns up at training he gives his all and you know what you are going to get from him in a game. When your back is up against the wall he's the player we look to to get us out of trouble.
"This season he has been our best prop and he will be missed. You want to play with the best and Ogre is one of the very best to have played in the front row in the last 10 years.
"He hasn't just come across to England and taken his money, he's given his all for this club and the fans should respect him for that."
While Hull will miss O'Meley's impact on the field during the play-offs, the former Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters player is not returning home until the end of the season.
Determined to still be a part of Hull's bid for play-off success, he's remaining part of the squad.
For coach Peter Gentle, that desire to stay involved sums up his feelings regarding his most experienced forward.
"His knowledge and experience is invaluable to our young forwards and he's had a great influence on Chris Green and Josh Bowden in particular, and will continue to," explained Gentle.
"Mark will leave a legacy and I'll be disappointed if he isn't thought of in that way.
"I am disappointed Mark doesn't get to go out on his terms.
"We are going to miss him because he was playing some good footy and was a rock in the middle for us.
"Unfortunately in this game you don't get to pick and choose when you get your injuries.
"I think the game maybe deserved to let him go out on his terms.
"He knew this was his last year and to finish at Wembley is not a bad thing.
"He's ticked a lot of boxes in his career and is respected on both sides of the world, he's had a wonderful career."
