Quote: SaintsFan "Well, he wasn't forced into going to Canterbury but he wanted to go.
Still, as you suggest, we're going round in circles.'"
Lots of players in that era went to Australia on short term contracts. The reason Connolly contemplated going there full time was that Saints WOULDN'T offer him a decent contract. Had he gone to Australia then Saints wouldn't have got a penny for him. Saints wouldn't give him the deal he wanted (much less that Wigan offered him) and decided to cash in.
Didn't Steve Prescott say something similar about the Saints board not wanting to reward local players?
What hasn't been mentioned is that Saints were in very poor financial state at that time and the £250 K was a big fee for them.