YORK City Knights forward James Green has opened up on his decision to retire from rugby league at the end of the 2021 season.

Green announced earlier this week that he would hang up his boots in the autumn after struggling to balance a playing career with York and his own mortgage and protection business.

The 30-year-old explained that he had been thinking about for several months about walking away from the sport given the difficulties of juggling his two part-time positions.

“Since joining York, I’ve been self-employed with my own company,” said Green. “And there’s more than just actually getting the job done, there’s business development and networking as well.

“It’s been a struggle to work from nine until five, train from five until ten and then give up your weekends to play, while trying to do everything I want to do to get my business to where I want it to be.

“It’s been two years of not having any time spare and I was really struggling to commit to both really.

“Although at York we are part-time, it does take up a lot of your life. You have to eat right, look after yourself physically - it’s not just the hours in training.

“That side of things was starting to slip because I was so focused on my business. It was getting to a point where playing well and training well was becoming really difficult because I wasn’t looking after myself and wasn’t able to do all of the extra things that I should have been able to do.

“It’s not fair on my team-mates or the club for me to go around for another year and not be as committed as I should be.

“That was ultimately what it came down to. There’s lots of things that I want to do in my business to grow it and take it in a new direction, which I’m not able to do while having my rugby commitments.”

The prop revealed that, due to his work commitments, he fell behind in training at the beginning of the season and that it took a conversation with head coach James Ford to reinvigorate his performances.

“Me and Fordy had a chat just before Christmas and he wanted a little bit more from me in terms of how I applied myself in training,” Green explained.

“Because of work, I was always the last to arrive and he would send out some information during the day and I wouldn’t have had a chance to read it.

“That meant I wasn’t clued up in training and was a step behind everyone else.

“Fordy was quite open and honest with me and said ‘If you still want to play and this is still something you want to do, I need more from you.’

“That was a kick up the backside and I think that I got off to a good start to the season. But then, that seemed to curtail as work got busier.

“I thought that thoughts of retiring would be a phase but that feeling then came more often and it was lingering.

“I just realised that there was no way that I could do the two and work is going to look after me forever.”

Green says that he is proud of what he has achieved in his 10 years in the sport, during which time he has represented a number of clubs including Castleford Tigers, Hull Kingston Rovers and Bradford Bulls.

“Coming through at Hull KR, nobody expected me to make it, so to play one Super League game was huge,” he said. “I’ve still got that shirt framed in my office.

“There’s lots of highs. Some of the wins that we had at Hull KR, and managing to get to Wembley, being at Bradford when we got promoted (to the Championship) and playing in the new stadium at York.

“I’ve had a life for 10 years that some spectators could only dream of and had some really good experiences.

“I’m probably most proud of what that’s led to now. Using that platform and everything that I’ve learned from rugby has now given me a lifestyle and a business that I’m really proud of.”

An appearance at Wembley Stadium in his final year would have been the icing on the cake for Green. However it was not to be.

As a close contact of a player that tested positive for coronavirus in the York, Green was ruled out of the 1895 Cup final against Featherstone Rovers earlier this month.

“It was tough, and it’s not the first time that I’ve missed out on a Wembley appearance as well,” he said in reference to Hull KR reaching the 2015 Challenge Cup final.

“As difficult as it was, I wasn’t as upset as I was earlier because I’d reached a level of maturity in my career.

“If the only thing that I’ve got to be upset about is not playing at Wembley then I’m not doing bad.

“There’s certainly a lot more people who are worse off than me, seeing the news every day currently.”

Green will remain in the sport as his company is part of the Knights’ Business Hub and is a sponsor of the club.

“We get hospitality tickets, so it’s going to be nice to sit and watch the games and maybe slate a few of the lads,” he laughed.