The game may be over for Marc Ellis and Mandy Smith with speculation that the golden sporting couple have split.
Sources close to the couple, who have been together for eight years, say the relationship is over and Ellis has moved out of their $700,000 home in Remuera.
Ellis would not comment
yesterday but Smith said: "There is some truth in it, but it's only been of recent times so I guess it's still in tender stages.
"So I'm not really prepared to make a comment on it."
Smith said it was a difficult time and that she might discuss the breakup "further down the track."
"But I certainly don't want to talk about my private life just at the moment."
Smith, aged 28, has played more than 100 hockey tests for New Zealand and during her star turn at the Olympic Games was tagged hockey's pin-up girl.
Ellis, 29, recently announced his retirement from a decade-long career in rugby and league.
He has played for the All Blacks and the Auckland Warriors.
Ellis is now focusing on business interests.
His profile was boosted by a television career which included such shows as Time of Your Life and In The Deep End, with Matthew Ridge, and Sky Sport's Sportscafe.
Ellis has a financial interest in Left Field, an Auckland waterfront sports bar and television production studio where Smith works as brand manager.
In an interview with the Herald three weeks ago, Ellis described his relationship with Smith.
"I mean, we've got a pretty strong relationship and we've grown up together so it's great to have somebody that's that close to you, somebody you care about immensely."
A rugby "rich list" published by NZ Rugby World magazine this year said Ellis was worth an estimated $1.5 million.
