It may be that McNamara gave Ellis a 'heads up' that he wouldn't be part of the squad, which allowed him to bow out dignity intact by announcing his retirement, instead of being publicly dropped.

Good news for Hull, without a doubt.

Shame to end but should surely benefit us next season . A great servent to his country and a true professional

This is what I think, but good for us anyways.

even though his form as not been great since joining us hes going to benefit us for 2014, with a full rest before pre-season he could have easily played in world cup but hats off to the guy for putting us first, its a big decision because hes been outstanding at international so it wont of been an easy one.

He has probably realised that his place in the England time is in serious jeopardy and has jumped before being pushed.

IMO, on this season's form, he shouldn't be anywhere near the England backrow. Westwood, Hock, O'Loughlin, Ferres, Farrell to name a few, have all had far better seasons and should be ahead of Ellis when it comes to selection.

Good news for england,without a doubt.

Since when was the England squad picked on form?

he has pretty much retired from club rugby since his arrival from oz as far as last season went, had my hopes he was retiring in full ,massive waste of money that could of been spent strengthening areas we needed ie halfback and a strong centre

That was my point in an earlier post,when I read ellis retired I thought it was from rugby altogether which would have been a disaster,all that money hull could have got a couple of decent players. Phew!

Wow!! We should have asked your financially astute chairman his opinion. You know, the guy who's shelling out 30 grand for a thug that the fans don't want.

Jason crookes ??