Anthony ‘The Man’ Mundine Is Making His Annual Pledge To Return To Rugby League

Anthony ‘The Man’ Mundine is not ruling out a return to rugby league at 41-years-old, in a move that would break the 50-year-record for the oldest player to ever represent at the game’s elite level.

“I feel that good and that youthful,” Mundine told AAP.

“If I can get anywhere up to the speed of what I used to be as a youngster, that could definitely be an option.

“I want to do things that have never been done. I want to make it possible,” he said.

The rugby league star turned boxer, who was once described by the BBC’s Steve Bunce as “arguably the greatest cross-over athlete in boxing history,” would break the long-standing record set by Billy “Bluey” Wilson who retired from the game in 1967 at the age of 40.

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“I believe I am capable of it,” he said.

“Obviously I would like to go back to the Dragons but I don’t know what their plans are. I will have to try and talk to them.

“But I am not really thinking of that right now. I just want to train my body and train my mind.

Mundine was a talented basketball player, boxer and rugby league player as a teenager but went with league, cracking the Junior Kangaroos national squad as an 18-yearold before signing with top flight ARL club the St George Dragons the same year.

Deadly footwork, acceleration and ball-playing skills installed him as an instant superstar. When combined with hard knuckles and a Masters in 1980s Redfern street politics, The Man didn’t take stick. His first racism controversy came as 21 year old in 1996 when he took offence to veteran Manly enforcer, Barry Ward calling him a “black c**t” (Mundine went public and Ward was fined 10K). Nine years later, aged 25, by which time he had become the highest paid player in the history of the St George Dragons, he famously walked into their boardroom wearing a leather jacket, with a lollipop in his mouth, and told them he was out. The game was racist and he was over it.

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Whether this latest pledge is a cheap publicity stunt or not is hard to tell, though he did make the exact same claim last year. He has also signalled his intention to at the very least turn out for the St George-Illawarra Dragons in the pre-season Auckland Nines tournament.

In any case, Mundine’s main focus is still boxing where he’s hoping to secure a third bout with long-time nemesis, Danny Green, following his controversial loss to the West Australian last February.

“I haven’t hung the gloves up totally yet,” Mundine said.

“I am not sure what is happening with that (a rematch) but it could happen.

“If it does, I might have one more to finish as a winner.”