Marcelo Montoya Will Retire After 10 NRL Seasons

marcelo montoya will retire at the end of the year after 10 NRL seasons, closing a career that stretched across more than 160 games for the New Zealand Warriors and two stints at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Bulldogs winger said he wanted to finish where it began, and now the final months of his career are set.

Bulldogs Homecoming

The Bulldogs announced the retirement call and Montoya explained why the timing fit. “I started my career here so it feels right to also finish it as a Bulldog,” he said in a club statement.

That return to Belmore came in 2025 after he left for the New Zealand Warriors in 2021. Across the two Bulldogs periods, he played 26 games over two seasons after coming back, giving the club a late-career stretch that now sits at the centre of his exit.

Montoya's NRL Record

Montoya leaves with 58 tries across his Bulldogs tenures, a return that started early when he scored 12 tries in 19 games in his rookie season and won the club's Steve Mortimer Rookie of the Year award in 2017.

His career footprint went beyond club football. He played for Fiji nine times during his NRL career, and he framed that run in family and cultural terms: “From the kid running around for the Bankstown Bulls to playing in NRL Finals series' and representing my culture on the biggest stages, I'll be forever grateful for the opportunities rugby league have given myself and my family.”

Belmore Closing Stretch

The end of the year now becomes the target for one last push. Montoya said he is “100% focussed on finishing this season off strongly and hopefully doing something special with my brothers.”

For the Bulldogs, that means a veteran winger is playing out a final campaign after ten seasons in the top flight, with a career arc that moved from Bankstown junior to rookie award winner, interstate switch, and back again. The last stretch gives him one more chance to add to the club totals that made him a regular name on the wing and a rare two-time Bulldog.