OK they had a little say in the matter



Isn't it just a combination of injuries (each taking loner to heal) and his age just catching up with him along with a new family and not being @rsed to trail around the nether regions of the Championship?

He's only 25 (26 next week).

With regards to the injuries, he was fit enough to play for the Skolars on plenty of occasions as well as us occasionally. We never saw him because McDermott never played him, I think it would be wrong to assume that he was always injured.

And you are right about him not being bothered about playing in the Championship, but that shouldn't even be a factor because he should have been playing in Super League last season, the season coming and unless something went badly wrong after that, for the rest of his career. Not all players in our squad have to be world beaters. The 2 Australians will be on at least 4 times what he is on IMO and that is disgusting.

This club goes further down the pan every week, I can see why people are getting disillusioned.

It seems to me some posters on here are using double standards. It was only a few weeks ago that people were slagging the club off for the lack of quality in the squad for 2010 and questioning why certain players were kept.
Now they are slagging the club off for not retaining a hardworking but essentially marginal SL player taking up a wage that could be used to pay for a quality player. Maybe that is where we got the money for young Bishop

People are (quite rightly IMO) angry that a talented, committed Londoner in the prime of his career has decided to walk away from RL because he knows he will not get a game. What makes it worse is that two sh*t Australians, earning heaps more than Joe Mbu, are automatic selections week-in and week-out, when we all know that they are no better than he is. In fact they show less committment, less endeavour and they won't be here two years from now.

Maybe if the club wasn't wasting money on those guys there would be some left over to buy a quality half back or a block-busting prop?

I can't see how it is double standards. We are actively recruiting players who are arguably inferior to Joe Mbu, and we are assumingly paying them decent money to make the switch down South. They will probably get bored of it, home sick or something and leave within a couple of seasons, or be useless, as many are unproven in Super League. And we are boasting about these on our website like they are amazing signings who are going to make us Champions, where in reality we will struggle to even challenge for the 8th play off postition.

Exactly, BMcD has brought in plenty of players in a position where Joe could do just as good a job.

This is the point we are trying to make.

My word, three or four sensible posts in a row - is this a first for SITC?

Is this the "royal we"?

Yeah right.

You're assuming we think he's a marginal SL player. I don't. We do have a few with squad numbers next year who definitely fit into that category though.

Good luck for the future, Joe and thanks for all your efforts in London RL.

You will be missed on and off the field (but at least I have some great photos of you with my niece and I. Truly a rose between two thorns!)