Sad to see Mark have to finish his career due to 2 bulging discs in his neck,he was a fine player and great club man for us! www.bigpondsport.com/news/tabid/ ... fault.aspx

Sad to see Mark have to finish his career due to 2 bulging discs in his neck,he was a fine player and great club man for us! www.bigpondsport.com/news/tabid/ ... fault.aspx

I wish him the best of luck. I spoke to him a couple of times and he was always prepared to listen and totally professional. On the field he was one of my favourite players at Quins. When he moved to Queensland and the matches were being shown on Sky I'd always try and catch them. From what I saw he was doing well.

Once again, best of luck.

Magical player, who seemed to be managing the transition to Union pretty well. Sad for him, particularly given the amount of playing time he's lost recently, but he's a clever bloke, and he'll do well at whatever he tries next.

Just want to send my best wishes to a player for whom the title London Legend would be well and truly deserved! Great player and from a couple of occasions when I got the chance to speak to the man, a truly top bloke! Dunno if anyone else did but I sort of hoped maybe after a couple of years in the toffs game he might have come back to us for one or two seasons but sadly it won't happen.

Remember first seeing him on the pitch at Griffin Park and thinking 'who is this bloke, he looks more like a surfer than a rugby player' but then the first time he got ball in hand, did a skip, sidestepped his marker then did the same to another and made about 40-50 metres I thought this guy could be a bit special! And he was!

Good luck fella, hope to see you back at the Stoop (albeit as a spectator this time)

Sad news, i had hoped he might come back to us after regaining his fitness in union (goodluck with that

) But its sad, he was a immense player for us, remember at the stoop, iirc it was our first game with the digital clock, so he thought it was half time so he kicked the drop goal against wigan, turned out to be the winning drop goal come full time.

A real gentleman of sport and one that I was proud to play for Our Club! I wish Marty every success in whatever he does in the future. I also hoped he may have returned one day.

Loved watching him play and he had a horrible habit of scoring for fun against us....was a very classy player and i wish him well for the future.

A great player. One of the best who played for us. Hope he gets well and enjoys whatever he takes up in his life. All the best mate

Most gifted and consistent player ive seen in a London/Quins shirt.

and probably the best clubman we have had with the Purdo running him pretty close. I hear that he didn't want to go but was not persuaded to stay!

He was quite ill at the time and wanted to be near His family

Fantastic player and man. Never gave less than 100%, great fun to watch and one of the best i have seen for us and anyone else, would like him back as attack coach!

His sister was a right hottie too.

Really? That's good to know.

Hope to see him back at the Stoop one day.I had many a post match chat with him and he was the best example of a club representative this Broncos/Quins outfit has ever seen...and we lost more than just a great player when he went back to Oz..I reckon he was the best we have ever had and I wish him well for the future..As stated before he is a smart cookie and will carve out a niche for himself in whatever career path he follows...

Hear,hear Steve.

Good luck Marty in whatever you choose to do.

Queensland Reds had soon realised what a quality player and person they had signed....
QR Reds Head Coach Ewen McKenzie said the news had come as a shock to the team and to McLinden, who had impressed the new coaching staff both on and off the field.

"We certainly viewed Mark as an integral member of the team and valued his leadership qualities and work ethic. In my short period with the team he impressed me with his approach to training and his all round professionalism," McKenzie said.

"However having been through the same type of injury myself I know he's made completely the right decision.

"While this has come completely out of the blue, we do have some fullback options in the squad and the Academy and we'll be examining those first before deciding whether to look further afield.

"In the meantime, our main focus now will be on helping Mark make this adjustment in his life and giving him whatever support he needs in that."

How soon can he take his coaching badges and get a flight back to blighty?

One of those magical players who had the gift of being able to turn a game single-handed. A top bloke, and one of the funniest people I've ever met.

If you're reading this Marty, thanks again for the memories, and I hope the future brings you everything you deserve.

Agree with all. Always a shame when players worth the admission are forced to retire early.



And can your sister come?

I heard from Marty the other day and he seems to have accepted that it was time to quit.He says that he would have liked to have played for the Reds for another year but reckons its time to find something new..He will be over in a year or two and plans to catch up with things at the Stoop, and I quote "I had a ball while I was in London"......

Marty will forever be a total London RL legend. An outstanding player, and a fantastic bloke as well, who always had time for the fans. Hope he comes back to The Stoop for a visit in the future and is given the welcome he deserves (by club and fans).

Its always sad to hear when a player has to retire because of injury. Good luck to him in what ever he chooses to do next.