Another talent wasted.

Eastmond clearly never had the heart to play league, but Grace is a loss.

Other defectors tell their own story. Joel, Iestyn and Charnley were shadows of their former selves on returning.

hmmmmm, where is my tiny violin

Poor man’s marshy

He's honoured his contract and now he's got the chance to probably double what he's on now, good luck to him.
I believe it's only a short deal anyway 1yr + an option, probably suits both parties, they get to have a look at each other without getting tied down if it doesn't work out

All jokes aside, it’s another sad day for the sport. I didn’t rate him early days but he’s worked really hard and improved massively.

I saw a Saints fan on here (or another forum, can’t quite remember) claiming he wasn’t a big loss to them because he’s not always first choice anymore and I didn’t understand that. He’s a nailed on pick when he’s fit. If we look at it from a selfish Wigan POV, they lose the only player they have with genuine lightning pace and we have 2 or 3, so that won’t hurt us but I’d rather he’d have stayed there long term.

Can he play for Wales if he plays his club rugby in France? That’s always going to be a draw that League can’t offer and I imagine his wages are much bigger, it’s probably a no brainier for Grace.

Yes as he is currently uncapped. It's only those already capped at the point they signed their contract (but under 60 caps) who aren't selected if they play their rugby outside of Wales.

I get so tired of hearing fans respond as if, just because a player's done the honourable thing and the best for himself and his family, somehow it's not a crisis for Rugby League.

I don't care how honourably the player's behaved. That's not the issue.

The issue is that we keep on losing good players to the game. It's bad enough that they go to the NRL, but Union is a serious problem as, not only does it prevent them playing international RL, it seems to ruin them as athletes.

I don't understand why our powers-that-be aren't trying to address this problem. But then, it's been going on for years now and they've not done a tap, so why should they start now?

I think you're maybe going a bit OTT. I can't remember the last player who went to union prior to Grace. I'm no fan of the RFL's sports administration skills but I'm not sure there's much they could do differently to stop a player who wants to represent his country in a World Cup that is far bigger than ours. You could remove the salary cap I guess but there's very few clubs who could afford to pay more than what they're paying atm without getting in a mess.

think of the money tho.....

It’s a real shame but it is what it is.

He came from Union and is going back to give it a go on no doubt huge money.

He seems a decent lad but he doesn’t really have a big profile away from the sport so not overly damaging from a PR point of view.

I genuinely didn’t think he would become as good a player as he is but again I think he is very replaceable.

Were he English would I pick him on the wing maybe but probably not.

It’s a shame to see him go but it also provides an opportunity for someone else.

Good luck to him.

Don't think he is all that good to be honest. Never thought he was but i reckon Saints will recruit better. They probably feel downbeat about it but i think it will be better for them. Johnstone to Catalans now confirmed, i have this horrible feeling they are going to come up with Tom Davies. Him and Makinson running it out basically fills me with dread. No insider information or anything like that, just a feeling. Are they linked with anybody? Don't think they have any quota spots available.

I saw that too think it was on the virtual terrace couldn't belive it

I wondered if it was a joke. Everyone likes to downplay a loss of a good player but that was make believe. I used to like seeing Grace named on a team sheet but his improvements have been huge. There’s not much to him but close to the line his finishing instinct is superb.

Shame to lose him, enjoy watching him play, wish him every success. Difficult to currently have two big money wingers in a competently run salary cap structure.

He's a great kid and won't let us down for the rest of the year. Big loss but on we go. - we've done well to get more important players like Welsby and Dodd signed into new deals.