It's not right and Wigan would be well hacked off but, IF there is a way of getting a gig in the NRL, the prospect of coming back to the UK to play for Wigan would be grim indeed.
There will need to be significant "compo" but, this type of thing happens quite often with some Aussie stars.
As he is now English, will he still count on their cap

Which will probably be paid by which ever club sign him...

All he has to do is plead 'Homesickness.' Wigan release him. He signs on at Salford. All's well.

Well that's what Joel Moon did to us when he went to Leeds, so I'm presuming what's good for the goose and all that.

Joking aside, it wouldn't surprise me if he never pulls on a Wigan shirt. Regretted the decision around the time he was picking up the MOS award, and he's not making the right noises at this point for me. No promo stuff for Wigan. Nothing. It begs the question why he bothered in the first place. I know Salford wanted to keep him, but couldn't afford what was being offered elsewhere. I suppose when the contracts where being offered he was thinking of security and signed with the offer that suited him. As time went on, and the great run Salford had at the back end of the season made him regret his decision months before. I guess we'll never know.

Can't see him wanting to stay at Salford though I accept Salford would be his UK team of choice, looks more like he wants back in at the NRL, they all do in the end. He's too good for SL.

I realise this. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment so I could shoe-in a snarky quip about Moon to Leeds.

I doubt he'll be playing in SL this coming season.

Stop talking gash, I love it when folk come on here claiming that they know the exact nature of players contract, yeah of course they do.

A get-out clause is not a get-out clause if you can't get out is it? I can't think of any top Aussie player who doesn't have one that allows them to leave whenever they wish, why you think Wigan are a special case god knows.

If he wants to walk he will and Wigan will have to whistle like everyone else despite what is or isn't written on any piece of paper



PS: As it happens I think he'll play for Wigan for this season at least as I doubt he's that hot a property in Australia and his GB appearances didn't do him any favours either.

This story is all gossip. No hard evidence. The kind of yellow journalism that Gutterfax loves to give credibility to

Hastings would not be wanting to stiff Wigan in order to stay at impoverished Salford, playing in front of meagre crowds. If there is any truth to the gossip, it would be an NRL club or Toronto Wolfpack offering him a contract. However all the NRL clubs seem to have their halves signed and sealed now.

Why keep a player if he don’t want to play for you, he made a mistake let him move on

Very hard to take any kind of legal action against someone who isn’t in the country and is employed outside of the UK.
The best Wigan can hope for is that the NRL don’t allow him to register for a club whilst Wigan hold his SL registration, so whoever signs him has to pay a fee.

It’s come from the horses mouth that his contract clause is at the end of the first season, you seriously think wigan would spend months negotiating and pay him 250,000 a y year just to let him walk before he’s put on the shirt? If he leaves before he’s played whoever wants him will have to pay a big fee as he’s UNDER CONTRACT. It’s not that hard to understand you stick to the small clubs where you could only dream of signing a top class player

7 pages of discussion on the Pie Board and not a dickie-bird from the man himself. Strong rumours that he's being courted by Bankstown as a stop gap for Foran, who's shoulder is blown and will miss all of 2020. Ian Lenegan as said JH is due to join the club in Late December, but he's "at home" at the moment and not tweeting, which is strange, because he's normally all over social media!

BTW. I find it odd that a poster who hasn't been on here for 54 months can give credibility to anything

Unfortunately, the fee is often determined by the context.
First and foremost, the length of time still remaining on a player’s contract. In this case, it’s only one year given his NRL release clause.
Secondly, whilst it’s frustrating, the player’s wishes impact massively on the fee. If Hastings has told Wigan he’s not leaving Australia, there’s not a great deal they can do but take whatever they are offered for him. In reality, they cannot compel him to get on a plane, come back to the UK and play for Wigan against his wishes.
Nor would they want to, as I can’t imagine they want someone who doesn’t want to be there.
I also doubt Wigan will go down the legal route. Taking legal action for BoC against someone who isn’t even in the country is complex and likely to fail. Even if he was in the UK, the club would have to prove they have suffered financial loss as a result of his BoC. That’s very difficult in this case as there is actually a financial gain for Wigan because they won’t be paying his salary!
As before, the card Wigan have is his registration. They need to hope the NRL don’t allow a club to register him without agreeing a fee for this. But let’s be realistic, Hastings and any club who want to register him have almost all the cards stacked in the favour.