Greg Inglis: "the man among boys" who dominated the rugby league for a decade | Matt Cleary | sport

YThe young Greg Inglis was beautiful. The way he moved, behaved, how he was burning opponents at full speed, was like the silky champion Steve Cronulla Sharks, except that he was longer, better and more powerful.

All that pure, languid human movement, all that was as sweet as the nut. Some people, you watch them move, you're just gone, in love. Inglis was one of them. It was a beautiful thing.

And now, he's finished, the big "GI", that big straight back and center-three-quarter; the best of its kind since the immortal Mal Meninga.

For Inglis in his ostentation – and it was a period of more than ten years – was a magnificent specimen; so aesthetically pure; athletic; and very very very well. And now he's retired and it's like we do not want to let him go. Not yet, in any case, not at 32, not with more than the man to give.

Alas, like the great Andrew Johns, Ricky Stuart and Peter Sterling (and dare to say so, Israel Folau) after so many years of high impact professional sports, the man has nothing left to give . A big body said:no mas ". In the last two years, Inglis had something of the old emu, the old fang. As a boy, he was skinny and fierce. In his work he was WG Grace; old knees, old bones. You could see the champion in him. But it's as if Latrell Mitchell imbued his vital force and left the best spent.

Inglis has never lacked strength even until the end of time.

In 2018, he set out alone to win the state of origin for Queensland. He was the last of Maroon's great cabal – Cronk, Slater, Smith, Thurston. But he could not hold back the blue tide, that old son of Bowraville. His last game was then, as it is now.

Like many of us, Fox Sports realized that it was likely that Inglis retired yesterday and so has put together a tasty highlight set called "Greg Inglis – All the Try", which gathers each of the 149 essays from Inglis (in 263).

There is a whole other show about his attempts with the home state and his few jumping stuff for Australia. And all the way through, you can see him burning it out, chest high and feet warm, separating from his opponents as the best Wentworth Park greyhound the way.

This man was beautiful. Young and free. And so long and lean and just great.

Everyone has Inglis moments.

Mine is when he pushed Steve Turner and Mark Gasnier into the State of Origin Game 2008. Turner was quick and tough, but Inglis put a rag doll on him and ended his representative career. Gasnier was a superb center-three-quarter; a lot of gas, a lot in bulk; perhaps the best center right of his time. And Inglis held it in tatters, making it look like a backup binder from Corrimal Cougars. It is the mark of a champion; to make a good player look bad.

Beau Ryan was not a great player, but he was a good player. They did not often bypbad it. He remembers a round 18 match at Campbelltown Stadium in 2008 between Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm.

"It was in the balance until Inglis started trying," Ryan says. "Then he scored three tries! He created another one. The last, he has so well protected my chest that I thought he was tearing my heart like that Indiana Jones and the accursed temple. "

Ryan forgives himself, however: "I joined the list of people who were pushed back by Greg Inglis. It's a very long list.

In match reports, coach Storms, Craig Bellamy, said that Inglis "looked like a man among the boys". He was barely 22 years old.

James Maloney remembers a four nations test in 2016 when an English player had dragged Inglis and had "pissed off" him.

"From that point on, he was unstoppable," says Maloney. "Kicking off a rag, no matter who brought it back. With the ball, he pushed the guys at will. It was always fast to play the ball. He won for them. He was a clbad from above. "

Inglis' South Rabbitohs teammate Robbie Farah recalls an opposing training session in early 2018. It was Inglis's first-ever session since his ACL injury. It was expected that he approached it carefully. Instead, he dominated.

"He missed the whole preseason and in his first session he embarrbaded the center he was against," Farah said. "He broke the tackles, scored tests, put them in place. Everyone sat down and shook his head. The man is a monster. "

Alas, as a thoroughbred champion past his best, Inglis has nothing left to give. After fourteen professional high impact professional sports seasons, he is barely able to raise one arm above the horizontal. Such are the rigors of the rugby league that a young man can develop from arthritis; own knees like a lot of coals.

Indeed, if Inglis was a racehorse, he would have already been grazing. Its owners would otherwise have been considered negligent. The South have done their best to heal their champion. Still, Father's Day has surprised Inglis as he attracts us all.

For sure, Inglis was a horse of choice. He was a champion, to the measure of a man who dominated his era. The same measure can be made of an "Immortal"; Someone who not only beats his next best booty but licks him, owns him, owns his time.

Inglis as immortal future? You can do a deal. Meninga was still competing until the age of 34 and had scored a try in his last match, a grand triumphal final. Inglis won the Grand Finals, the Test Series and many Origins. It would be a shame if his last months know his status. Because if Meninga is in the pantheon, Inglis knocks on the door.

Because at his best – and he's been at his best for over a decade – Greg Inglis has not only dominated his peers, he's made them look second-rate.

It's the mark of a champion. And a beautiful thing.