IN BRIEF.

(From Canberra Times)

That's it for new dad Sing There are plenty of good players waiting in the wings, but Matt Sing's surprise decision to retire from representative football at just 29 will hit Queensland hard. Sing returned home to Townsville from Australia's Tri Nations triumph in England this week to see his new- born baby daughter Meiki for the first time. ''That'll be it,'' declared the softly spoken Sing after laying eyes on the latest addition to his young family. Despite having another two more years to run on his contract with NRL semi-finalists North Queensland, Sing believes a decade of playing representative football is enough. He played 21 Origins.

Hookey no longer hungry South Sydney winger Lee Hookey has announced his retirement, saying he has no desire to play any longer. Hookey, 25, is a South Sydney junior who broke into first grade in 1999 with the Rabbitohs, before …