Cult hero Rose keen to play on in NRL

NRL cult hero George Rose is keen to play on next season and plans to use Melbourne’s finals campaign as an audition for his future.

The 31-year-old veteran of 141 NRL games across the Sydney Roosters, Manly and the Storm is off contract at Melbourne but wants to extend his first-grade career into its 12th season.

After starring in Manly’s charge to the grand final last year, Rose earned himself a contract with the Storm for this season and he has set his sights on repeating that effort at the back end of 2014.

” I still have something to offer,” Rose told AAP at the launch of the NRL’s Close the Gap round on Tuesday.

“I have been lucky enough to be a part of two very successful clubs. I have learnt a lot at both places – my time spent at Manly and then learning a completely different culture and style of play in Melbourne.

“I am pretty lucky I have learnt from two of the best clubs in the last 10 years and I feel have still got plenty to offer; I still have plenty in me.”

Rose has featured in eight NRL games for the Storm this season but is playing reserve grade with Melbourne’s shared feeder club with Cronulla, the Sharks’ NSW Cup side.

Rose’s light-hearted attitude has earned him a cult following among rugby league fans and he says he wants to ensure he is not lost to the game in 2015.

“I’m leaving it all up to my manager and won’t make a decision until the end of the season but I feel fine; the body feels fine. It is just a matter of what I end up deciding to do,” he said.

“I had a great finish to last year. This time last year, I was preparing myself for finals footy. At the moment, I am hanging out with the Sharkies.

“Of course it is tough – everybody wants to be playing at the top level.

“I am just going to bide my time and, hopefully, the cards fall into place and I am playing semi-final football. That is when I play my best footy so that is what I want to be a part of.

“I do love my footy and that is why I play. If I wasn’t enjoying it, I wouldn’t want to keep playing it.”

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