He insists that he never wanted to leave. He also states that he never left for money. Reading the book I would dispute both statements.

He went for the money pure and simple. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had 18 months of a 36 month unsigned contract to run. He was on £75k a year with us.
He claims that he would have earned £200k tax free from a testimonial year. On what basis he makes this claim is not apparent.
But if he had got all that then he would have had a further £310k in his pocket.
He went to Rovers for £110k per year for 42 months. He also got £80k in his pocket for signing for them. Hudgell also said he would pay his legal fees. Now do the maths. I would also like to know what he needed legal fees paying for. If the move was all above board then legal expenses wouldn't be required.

Now you can all make up your mind on that. But as per his book these are the facts. Naturally we haven't got Hull FC's side of the matter and I doubt we ever will. I know which way I am swaying on this matter.

Also in the book he tells about how the build up to the 2006 Grand Final was a farce. The reason being money. I believe this was not fully supported by the squad and certainly not by the coaching staff. Again make up your own mind. It was our biggest game of the season and possibly the biggest game in many players careers. What was he most concerned with?

Cooke wasted his talent. Much the same as my heroes from the 80s he was more interested in beer. Cut that out and he would potentially have made it internationally. He certainly wouldn't have had the brushes with the law. He possibly wouldn't have treated women so badly.

The club stood by him through all that cra9. The club gave him his chance. Yes the whole testimonial thing was possibly handled badly. Certainly his opinion of Heatherington is probably exactly the same as many of us. But his attempts to paint himself as some kind of victim in it all do not wash with me.

I will forever remember his try in Cardiff.
I will forever remember is part in the semi against Saints.
I will forever remember his role in 2006. But I won't forgive him his part in 2007 fiasco.

The club failed to replace him that's a fact. I will also add there a several players I'd claim were the biggest influences for us in the SL era. Smith, Swain, Horne and half of this years squad, before him.
But he was totally at fault for how 2007 ended. Big man faced his team mates and his bosses to say good bye. But he let them all down imho (but it wasn't for money )

As for other parts of the book. He reads a game brilliantly (or so he says). His analysis of plays is worth reading (Is it in retrospect or did he actually know all that while playing) . He will be a good coach. Would I have him in any leading role at Hull FC? I don't know. Certainly not head coach as things stand.

I wish him well. I am glad he has stopped drinking heavily and beating women. The world is a better place for that. But I don't buy his story.

I don't profess to know what Cooke was earning at Hull, but on the basis he make the team tick, I can imagine if he was not in the top 3 earners, that would have caused an issue.

This is not a dig at you, just this thread in general, but there are a few self righteous folk on here. If any one of us was unhappy at work we would do something about it. Would you move jobs within the same city for a significant pay increase. Anyone who says not is either already loaded or lying.

If Cooke was unhappy at work, this could well have had an impact on his personal life. We know from at the time it was a turbulent path he was walking.

At the time he left Hull I was livid that the situation was allowed to have even got to that state. I'll hold my hands up and say I called him all the names under the sun when he lined up against us for rovers. Do I wish him personal misery (as it would appear a few on here would!), then absolutely not. The very fact that Hull FC never sought legal redress speaks volumes of the shoddy nature of the clubs management at the time. In a way I actually admire Cooke for the way he has carved out a coaching career from the ashes of what I'd imagine he would describe as a player career which never realised its potential.

For me Cooke has a very astute rugby brain. I for one would welcome him to Hull FC in a coaching capacity.

He tells you the wages he was on in the book. So no guess work there. It's only my opinion and after reading the book I think he let his club .supporters .and team mates down for a few Bob in his pocket. Imo reading between the lines he would have done it different given a chance. It's done now and people will have different views on it.

I thought we won a court case against him and were allowed to claim damages against him at any time in the following 5 years. I remember Rule saying there was no rush and we would bide our time.
Then it was no surprise that nowt happened !!

I don't personally hate him, but he certainly acted very poorly and let his team mates and the fans down. I just can't ever forgive him for that.

No; the RFL suspended him for 6 months/games, but Hull never took legal action, despite Rule's sabre rattling. I'd argue that this was not surprising. There was a statute of limitations (or time to let it all blow over) of several years.

Loved those arguments.

I've recently read the book. I was hoping there'd be more Wakefield stuff in it, but even so I really enjoyed it. As a neutral I don't agree with his reasons for leaving. He constantly states it wasn't about the money and more about the principal, but continued to take the higher pay on a contract he knew he'd never signed, and wasn't happy when his last wage reflected that. Just my opinion, but I felt he could have handled it a lot better than he did.