A series of knee injuries forced promising Warriors back-rower Ben Henry into an early retirement. Stuff sports writer CHRISTOPHER REIVE speaks to him about his career and life after league.

It was 2010, the Warriors were headed to the Grand Final of the NRL's under-20s competition and Ben Henry, their captain, would have to watch from the sidelines nursing a knee injury.

At first, he didn't think much of it. He got into his rehab and set his mind on getting back on the pitch in 2011 – which he did, leading the Warriors to their second straight NRL under-20s title and, in 2012, going on to make his debut in first-grade – playing 24 games in the season.

Mark Kolbe Ben Henry of the Warriors grimaces as trainers attend to his injured leg during what would be his final NRL match.

All seemed well. No injuries and no niggling effects from the knock in 2010.

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Then, in 2013, it happened again.

Hannah Peters Ben Henry of the Warriors celebrates scoring a try against the Gold Coast Titans.

And again in 2015.

Finally, in 2016, the 25-year-old realised his time in the game was up.

"When I decided to retire, it was sad," he says.

"The life that I'm used to living with all the training at that sort of thing is over, that was the saddest part. When I broke the news to the playing group it was pretty tough."

Henry ruptured his ACL in 2013 just seven games into the season. The injury kept him sidelined for the rest of the year and for the first eight games of the 2014 season.

In 2015, he suffered the same injury in round four and missed the rest of the season.

He trained hard to get back on the pitch for the 2016, which he achieved – lasting 30 minutes before re-injuring his knee.

With plans to return to the pitch in the later rounds of the season, he injured his knee once more during rehab and realised his time in the game was up.

"I thought if it wasn't going to hold up during my rehab exercises in a controlled environment, then there's no way it was going to hold up for an NRL match where you're put in all these awkward positions. That's when it really hit me.

"I just thought it's no use doing this over and over again to start back a square one – the eight or nine months that you have to put in at the gym just to get out on the field and [get injured] again and again. I thought it was logical to call it quits and hopefully I can still walk when I'm 50."

Henry only picked up the game of rugby league because that's what his friends at intermediate school played.

He never thought he was good at it, but after just three years he was selected for a New Zealand under-15s representative team.

"Things just sort of happened really fast. The Warriors got in touch, then I was coming here training for development and then the under-20s comp kicked off in 2008 and I played in that in 2009, 10 and 11. It just sort of happened.

"I was really grateful that it did. When I was a bit older, like 19 or 20, I saw what I could be doing and what I was doing at the time, coming in training and things like that, not many people get the opportunity to do this so I was pretty happy and stoked."

Henry made his first-grade debut for the Warriors in round 1 of the 2012 season against the Manly Sea Eagles.

"It was sort of a baptism by fire to be honest, I remember we lost that game – I was up against Steve Matai and he took me to school," he laughs.

"I'm glad for the lessons I learnt in that game. After going through that I thought, 'I'm not going to do what I did ever again', so it was good."

Henry played in 24 matches for the team that year, but knee injuries restricted him to seven games in 2013, 16 in 2014, four in 2015 and just one in 2016.

"That first injury [in the under-20s] didn't get to me. I'd had operations before that and every single one I've bounced back from and it never bothered me again.

"After the second, it started to play on my mind if it was going to keep happening, and then the third, fourth and fifth, by then mentally I was cautious of it. You try to trick your mind into thinking you'll be sweet."

Henry also made one appearance for the Kiwis in the 2014 Anzac test in which he started at hooker.

He says it was the people around him who made the decision to retire easier than it might have been, giving credit to his family and faith for helping him through that time.

"My wife and mum, like any, they didn't like to see me hurt and these past three years have just been that and it had taken a toll on me, just the frustration and things like that," he says.

He says since stepping away from the game as a player, his body had reacted to not having to train on a full time basis.

"I keep telling my wife not to put my clothes in the drier because they seem to be shrinking a little bit. I keep blaming that drier. I've put on a few kgs, but I'm just resting and not doing much ... at the moment I just want to relax and give my knee the best opportunity to heal."

Henry was fortunate enough to land a role behind the scenes with the Warriors as a player development manager, which he says made his transition into life after playing the sport much easier knowing what he would be doing.

"The pay's not as good," he laughs.

"Watching the boys going onto the field for preseason, I just smile and think I'm glad I'm not doing that."

While it was an emotional decision for him to leave the game in a playing capacity, Henry says he is content with his choice to step away.

"My viewpoint was I really didn't deserve to make it in the first place – I only say that because so many other talents boys that I know and played with had all the talent in the world but didn't make it.

"The only thing I was really good at was having coaches telling me what to do and I did it, nothing special, but because I listened to them I was able to make it that far."

"I was pretty fortunate and pretty blessed to play in the Warriors. I thought I was pretty lucky to play in the NRL against some players that are just freaks."