Renouf: Broncos will miss Gillett - a player who always gave more

Like everyone, I was disappointed to see Matt Gillett forced into an early retirement due to injury but there's no doubt he should be very proud of his legacy of being a player who always brought more.

I've loved watching Matty play over the past 10 years. He probably wasn't the biggest forward going round and didn't look like the most gifted athlete but he was a terrific footy player and he really understood the game.

For me the most important thing, and the thing his teammates would have most respected, is he was a player you could always rely on.

That's the sort of player other players are loyal towards. Whatever you thought he had to offer, that was the absolute minimum you got from him. He always found a way to bring more than you thought, never less.

He's the sort of player every other player wanted to play with because you knew he'd always give you his absolute 100%.

He was very effective in defence. He wasn't the biggest but gee he could chop blokes down.

He could read the game really well, he had a good game sense and was a natural footy player with a great footy brain. He was very god at running holes as a second-rower and had a deceptive little burst of pace when he needed it.

He just had that instinct and awareness of what was going on around him, it's hard to explain but like a peripheral vision but peripheral thinking as well. Certain players just have it and others don't.

He had the all-round game that he could have played in the centres if he wanted to. He's smart, good with his hands, could find a hole and tough in defence – he had it all.

What he's been able to achieve after starting a little bit late, coming through as a Bribie Island boy alongside Jack Reed, has been incredible.

I know Matty was very shaken up by the broken neck he suffered last year. I remember in an interview afterwards, he was speaking about it and his family and how emotional he got.

That would have played on his mind but to come back and play at the top level for the Broncos and Queensland again is a credit to him as a person and a player.

His retirement now is also a blow for Brisbane who are a bit short on experienced players in what is mostly a very good but very young pack.

Hopefully, Alex Glenn ends up staying because he's the last really experienced player in that pack right now.

Either way Matty will leave a massive hole that will be tough to fill. When you have such a young pack you need a few of those players with that age and experience guiding them which leaves a big task for Alex.

Even just in a playing sense a few of them will have to lift their work rates a bit to cover all those things Matty did on the field as well.

Lastly I just want to congratulate Matty on a fantastic career. He'll retire as a Broncos legend and you certainly don't say that about everyone but it's something he's worked hard for and he's earned it.