Absolutely. The NRL media spinners are in full force trying to engineer a return.

Very poor taste from Moley IMO. Click bait article that's latching on to a horrible situation.

Merrin should take as long as he & his family needs. I'm sure Leeds will support him in that.
FWIW I reckon he's the type to stick to a commitment and will be back in due course.

Never wanted to come here, doubt we will ever see him again.

I doubt it too, but not for the reasons you stated. I don't think that was ever true, and you can not hold it against the lad for circumstances outside his control. From what I understand his girlfriend left earlier than him, as he put the team first to play on Thursday night, then immediately went back to Aus. That is not somebody who doesn't want to be here.

That's harsh on Merrin IMO, especially at a difficult time. Judge him by his actions on the field, and what he has actually said.

It seems that IF there is any truth in the rumours about him leaving, we may only find out after the Jack de Belin case gets sorted out.

For a high profile player like Merrin, these rumours are going to keep surfacing for a while. I don't think there's any concrete evidence (yet) that he's serious about leaving.

Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it is there either way?

I would be amazed if he doesn't at least have a couple of meetings/discussions while he's over there though. There aren't many high quality players who would relish playing for a losing big side like Leeds and getting booed most weeks by your own fans. I think his future depends on how serious an NRL club is about coming for him.

Whatever, I hope he finds the best way for himself because if he's not happy at Leeds or it's not workable with family commitments, then he's not going to give his best for the club. He's on a whacking salary and if he doesn't want Leeds then the money could be used elsewhere, and you'd think we'd get some compo too. I do like the bloke, I think he tightens us up in the middle and we haven't even seen the best of him yet because the side around him isn't good enough.

Then again positionally, I still think we're in need of another prop and a different type of second row anyway. With Ward, Smith, Cuthbo, possibly Sutcliffe as a potential 13, now Albert, we already have players who want to play. I've not seen Leeds look cracking in second phase all year despite all of this ability, and personally I think we need more direct and physical players in attack and defence. We have to establish dominance in the middle first before we earn the right to play off the back of that; you can't do it gassed in D or constantly on the back foot and compressed. I don't know why the club doesn't seem to understand this.

Stay or go, I'm reasonably happy either way - I think Merrin needs to look after himself and family like I said and I wouldn't begrudge him whichever way he goes. I do think an early decision is better for both parties though if he does want out, as Leeds don't deserve to get left in the lurch too late to line up a replacement.

while ever Merrin is here and we are playing bad the rumours will persist right up until he either leaves, or gets to his last year of contract. If/ when he comes back this week/next week, the rumours will soon appear again in a few weeks.

The player has said he wants to stay/is staying, that will do for me, if he does want to quit walk away just because its hard, then is that the type of player we want here anyway, whether they are on £15k or £300k

Trents partner has expressed her disgust on social media at articles surrounding Trents return to support her and her family in these difficult times. She shouldnt have to do that given the circumstances. I personally think he will return in due course and continue his journey with us.

Very true, it’s incredibly low scrapeing the bottom of the barrel stuff using someone’s death to generate click bait news headlines.

The journalists should be ashamed of themselves. As should anyone commenting on Trent going down under or the so called rumours.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/tr ... eculation/

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/tr ... eculation/

I’m hearing a certain marquee player has not boarded his scheduled flight back to the UK today from Sydney International Airport.

Didn't someone say that the funeral wasn't until tomorrow? That would explain it...

This is correct. I doubt he will get back for Friday, maybe Monday but definitely next Sunday.

With what has happened I'm pretty sure Trent isn't thinking about rugby and nor should he be. The club should give him as much time and support as he needs.