The heart and soul of Souths likes to go unnoticed, but he's due some recognition, writes Glenn Jackson.

You wouldn't have known this, and you may not care, but Luke Stuart may retire at the end of the season. The reason for such indifference is that this veteran player is a relative unknown.

"I suppose I do try and stay out of it, in some ways," the South Sydney forward said this week. "It's not like I play a game where I get noticed a lot. And I guess I like flying under the radar. It suits the type of person I am."

Not even the latest American spy planes can fly under the radar for this long. Stuart has played 172 first-grade games over 10 seasons. And yet he has managed to foreshadow his retirement before anyone really knows anything about him.

When the Herald approached Stuart this week ahead of tomorrow night's Charity Shield match against the Dragons, his response was typically humble. "Geez, you must be desperate," he said. After all, the 31-year-old estimates that he has scored more tries than interviews. And he has scored just nine tries.

But don't underestimate the impact of his loss on the sexy new South Sydney should Stuart pull the pin.

"Someone else will have to make 30-odd tackles and 20-odd runs a game for a start," Rabbitohs coach Jason Taylor offered. "You know, a lot of the good teams have got one or two of those players - who are the heart and soul of your team."

Stuart is the ultimate Franklins footballer. No frills, no fuss, and fairly cheap (relatively speaking). A player who still wears his boots black and boring. "I wish I had a bit of show in me," he said. "A bit of skill. You've just got to work with what you've got."

But Stuart will take some milestones with him. He will be one of only a handful of men to captain an Australian side in the US, after skippering Souths against Leeds in Jacksonville in January. And he is one of only two players to have remained at the club since its reinstatement (in 2002) - although he's unsure whether the glass of champagne will be half empty or half full when he toasts that one.

"I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, to be honest," he said. "It's not a competition. I don't cross the names off each year or anything. It's not something I'm proud of, so to speak."

What it does is give him the right, more than any player at the club besides Scott Geddes - the other member of the exclusive club - not only to pass comment on the new order under Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe ("it's like being at a new club") but to reminisce.

The lowlight of the old order?

"Probably '02 to ... all the way through to last year," he said, managing to joke but be deadly serious at the same time. "It was pretty much the same story for us. Up against it every week. When you're not winning games, it's not a happy place to be."

That, says director of football Shane Richardson - who brought the Heathcote junior into grade at Cronulla - makes Stuart's feats even more impressive, albeit largely invisible to many.

"The thing about Luke is that he put the same effort in when we were s--- to when we were good," he said. "Luke carried the team for a while, but having better players [now], he's been more outstanding."

That hasn't stopped Stuart effectively playing for his future every year. The longest contract he ever signed was a two-year deal and he's been on one-year-at-a-time terms for the past four seasons - administrator-speak for we'll see how you go and then decide. This year is no different.

"I think about it [retirement] every year," he said. "This year could be the year. I don't know how you come to a decision like that, but I'm definitely getting close to that expiry date."