According to one Australian sporting magazine, they rank among the world’s top 10 premature sporting retirees.

Mr Ella, owner of one of the most ridiculously sublime set of rugby skills, is now Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s sports and events manager.

The 51-year-old played 25 times for Australia in a short

but stellar career which lasted from 1980 to 1984.

Aged just 25 and at the peak of his powers, Mr Ella hung up his boots.

Decades on, sports mag Alpha reckons the Sydney-born indigenous star pulled the pin prematurely.

The man himself is more circumspect.

“I am a much better player nowadays in people’s minds, than I was when I retired,” Mr Ella joked.

“In a rugby sense, I went out pretty much on top and that’s what people tend to remember.

“I never wanted to play rugby forever.

“It was purely amateur in those days, and I had other things I wanted to do.

After his early retirement Mr Ella found himself in events and media marketing but managed to stay involved in the game he loved.

“I really enjoyed playing, but I was always going to retire after that tour (the Wallabies’ 1984 Grand Slam).

“Rugby stayed a part of my life, I got plenty of gigs that kept me involved in it – from journalism and radio.

“I even travelled the world coaching,” Mr Ella said.

As well as allowing him time to branch out professionally, Mr Ella said the change of pace following his retirement also was a welcome change.

“When I retired, I was able to dictate what I wanted to do rather than the sport dictate it to me,” he said.

“I wanted to be able to spend weekends the way I wanted to.”

A magazine spokesman said when it came to compiling the list, just two rugby players came to mind – Mr Ella and former Australian half-back Steve Merrick.

“There is no one person in this building that does not respect him (Ella) for his achievements in the game and

his decision to retire when he did,” the spokesman said.

“It took a lot of guts to do what he did and so he got the nod.”

For the record, eight others – six of them Aussies – made the list.

The other? Reset, a racehorse that raced five times for five wins including two Group One crowns.