It's Zak's decision:

Zak:

“I explained my desire to leave and test myself in the NRL to Gary several weeks ago and I am pleased the club is prepared to release me."

If he doesn't want to be here, I'm glad Leeds are selling him.

Partly Zak's decision but just as much Leeds' decision. Dont believe all youn read

So I'm not to believe Zak's statement?

If he doesn't want to be here (which is what he is saying), get shot. if you keep someone who doesn't want to be here you end up with Greg Eastwood on your hands. Don't make that mistake twice.

I agree we need to get rid that is why GH said its in best interests of both parties but the fact remains there arent many NRL we could get rid to. If he doesnt go and Leeds dont get their wish weve a full back with 4 years left on his deal so saying send him to a lower league team isnt feasible.

Not for the long term.

But i'd put him out somewhere, keep him busy, keep his drama away from the rest of team, until something is sorted.

Which is the reason Leeds shouldnt have made it public in my opinion and just got the deal done before announcing it. If he goes nowhere, which i believe is unlikely but possible it will linger on and could cause issues.

We both agree he needs to go just for different reasons.

You seen state of Zak on Twitter? Leeds probably thought 'announce what we know, before numpty starts typing again' !!

You are Incorrect there, so do believe what you read. Leeds have tried various other ways before announcing on Saturday, and have now come up with a solution they are happy with. You only have to look at the statement and the comments by Hetherington and McDermott to see what their preferred option was.

It was orgiginally end of season asked for. It is only the offers since that have changed it to as soon as. He already has the club lined up, and agreed with Leeds, but if they don't pay the fee then it will be sorted end of season.

Longer he stays for me, more chance of him changing his mind.

Anyone dropped a quick email informing the Australian equivalent of the NUS yet?

Greg Eastwood was pretty much our best player in the last few matches of that season.

With the biggest pet lip.

If the last statement is correct you need him out ASAP. I would take a lesser fee to move on - this has to be in everyone's interest.

His behaviour off the field would be a worry and it would appear it is only a matter of time before it blows up again and one day it will be so serious there will be no coming back and your asset will have no value.

Thanks for the latest [i"I'm in the know"[/i but [i"can't divulge too much information apart from a little taster"[/i along with the juicy little titbit added at the end just for added effect, Re: [i"He might change his mind and stay"[/i.

If he doesn't ship out soon, I'm hoping he loses weight.

No need for thanks but appreciation duly noted

Gotcha u cover your backside more than a nun's habit on these forums.

Hes got a club lined up (unnamed as always) but he could change his mind and stay. Wow uve got that well covered then. So he could go or he could stay?? Shock.

The facts are simple he was partying til 6am 2 days before the WCC his girlfriend dragged him out of it, he has turned up drunk to training, he has missed public appointments the club had him down for as part of Carl Abletts Testimonial, he slept in and was late arriving for the Saints away game (unbelievably the team waited for him the fans coaches actually left before the team that night) and finally he abuses fans and threatened them on twitter after the Hudds league game. That was the final straw for GH and the club. Those are the facts and all while on a final warning. Some of the other rumours maybe true i have no idea so not right to comment on.

I know about his issues with his family and his ex and the baby can in part be used as an excuse for him but again not fair to post on here.

If as you claim a team has been bidding for him there was no need for Leeds to make the transfer listing public. They could have done the deal quietly and then announced Zak wanted to go to NRL after the deal was done. The fact that they have chose to say its in best interests of both parties that he leaves speaks volumes i think.

That might well be an issue for someone else, but not for me mate. I have no desire or even half @rsed bothered to say I told you so. People get so obsessed with "in the know" they don't really see the wood for the trees. The last bit of changing mind, was my own opinion as that is what I would like to see happening. And I know the club tried all they can to try and make that happen.



This is true, and there was another two first team players with him.



That is not true, and therefore not a fact.



This is true, and was at the time of his personal issue, that the club have supported him on.



That's nonsense that one. Not even sure where you made that one up from.



This first bit is true, and the club didn't even bat an eyelid at it, due to players across the game supporting him on it, and the fact he was defending his team mates. Not to mention, it again, was exactly the time of his personal issue. And he won't be the first or last to have a go at people on ter, that is what the thing is for. It seems to happen weekly with players.



So not facts then at all, but just made up rumours that people embelish to try and paint an incorrect picture. You also missed off the pulling over by he police for reading on is ipad whilst driving. You also missed off coming off his quad bike, stupidly racing in the street with fellow players, which are actually true. You see, he isn't an innocent boy, but he certainly isn't the one made up either.



Good for you. I would suggest you don't actually know fully though, considering your post.



They could have done, but then again it had been posted on here for the prior couple of weeks, and the rumours been made up included other players that were just making the situation for the club worse. But more to the point, they were hopeful of doing a swap deal, that fell through, and they were not going to publish their interest before anything were they?

Gotcha the with regards to the one you disagree on about the Saints away game he actually tweeted it so not sure why he would do that if not true. So hope that explains where it came from. I saw the tweet with my own eyes. As with a lot of his stuff they disappear within 24 hours.

Also with regards to the club didnt want to keep it quiet cos of rumours posted on here a couple of weeks earlier surely carries no weight. The club could very easily keep it quiet. They chose not to. That, in my opinion, could prove to be a mistake by the club.

As for street racing and stopped by the police I didnt mention those as i have no idea about them and only deal in what I know and not rumours i hear through gossip.

With regards to your opening paragrah about being in the know I accept what you say and apologise for what i put.

Personally id love him to stay sort his head out & recapture his MOS form unfortunatey i think his time with us is done so i wouldnt select him fit or not.
Its too big a gamble imo due to the length of his contract.

I agree with this. I've often defended Hardaker as I think what he's done has, at times, been overblown by some people. But, unfortunately, it doesn't appear as if he's become any more professional, which was a must given where we were with him.

It's a shame as he's a very, very good player still with room for improvement, but time to move on I think. And as Sal rightly points out, do it now while we can get some money for him rather than having to sack him at some point in the future.

I'm of the same thinking. At a point you stick with him and hope he's one of those that grows up and matures (Peacock was one who grew up from his early off field days of too much drinking). But after a while you just accept it's not going to happen. After surviving by his fingernails last year and with experienced players retiring it should've been the time he grew up but it clearly hasn't happened.

The penny may drop with him in the future though i highly doubt it but i hope to be proved wrong.I wish him well, but i too wouldn't play him until he has been moved on, his time with us is done imo.I hope he can find a club asap and we can stop talking about him, and plan for the future which is looking more fractured by the day.

IF these rumours regarding Zak are in fact true,especially the ones that he has supposed to have committed since his final warning from the club?

Then i say good riddance to him and lets get shut asap and get some sort of deal for him whilst we can
as he is clearly a cancer (sorry for this terminology) that will surely spread throughout our club and we will be left with a culture that has players thinking that they can do whatever they want,whenever they want

Only one way to go then and that is in a downward spiral and that takes a club a long time to rid itself of that culture, Just ask Warrington

I am all for giving people a second chance but this individual seems to never learn. However my main concern has always been his on-field performance. His game is based on physicality and not classy rugby skills. Yes he has given some outstanding defensive displays and had a purple period of big metres on kick returns. But I do not think he is an intelligent player who has the required basic rugby skills. He seriously lacks passing ability or the heads up awareness to know when to pass of create space for others. He is greedy and dies with the ball far too often to be regarded as a class fullback. So IMO his lack of the attacking ability diminishes his value in the market place. IMO he will finish up in the pack if he can restore his physicality which has deserted him this year. The term bad apple comes to mind and you know what happens if you don't throw it out.

If Zak doesn't get any offers from the NRL - which wouldn't surprise me at all BTW - then that in itself might be the wake-up call he needs. Regardless of whether he stays at Leeds or not, he needs to grow up.

I do wonder if that's why Leeds set the price so high. Send a message to him and any other players (and any clubs sniffing around) that nobody is going to be let go cheaply and you might not be as in demand as you might've thought.

The fee might be high but I'd rather we set it too high than too low, even if you don't get an offer of £300k you'll probably get one closer to it for setting the fee at that mark.