I have it on decent authority that Gareth Widdop’s family have returned to Australia. You heard it here first....probably.

I thought part of the attraction of coming to SL was to be near his family. Let's hope, if true, it is just for a holiday.
Surely not another homesick Aussie.

These rumours just don't appear to be going away.....

I thought it was difficult to enter Australia just now.

Assuming they are Australian Citizens then they are able to return to Australia under the current regulations.

His Wife and kids are Australian so it's more than likely them that are struggling etc so Widdop will do what's best for them. If he goes back to Australia for his family then fair play to him. He's starting to show his form here and i think we'll miss him but we'll see i suppose

Not true. Thousands are stranded overseas but are not able to get back due to restricted landings at airports and quarantine regulations after entering. Big political football here at the moment.

I think the club are aware of the situation, I will be surprised if he hangs around next year. Maybe due to the current restrictions & lockdown measures his wife and kids felt more accustomed to life in Australia, possibly felt it was easier for them to stay at their original home and keep the kids occupied... I suppose time will tell how it pans out but I’d say it sways in the favour of 70/30 that he’s returning to Oz unfortunately.

MW- yes strange times and I can understand why his family could feel unsettled given the situation in the UK with a long haul before returning to normality likely. It can't be easy for them.
And the thought of going into a long cold winter over here can't be appealing especially when they've not benefited from the summer.
Somewhat different if you're born and bred here.

On this 'winter' issue - shades of Tyrone Roberts.

So actually I'd like to give a big rap to Blake Austin and his family. None of this homesickness reported in connection with them.

What is this. The 4th player in the last 5 years who is playing the home sickness card.

Sorry. You signed a contract. Honor your contract. Or pay the outstanding years wages you would receive to break your contract from us. Plus compensate us for the time we have to waste on finding a replacement.

I'm sick of players who think they can sign a 3 year contact. For them to break it within a year. How can we plan for the future next year. 2 years 3 years in advance if the player that we are building the team around decides to bugger off.

I know what you mean about honouring contracts but the alternative is to have someone in your team whose heart isn't in the job. Clubs tend to be compassionate and offer them a way out. I echo the praise on Austin, just getting on with it.

It seems to be a Warrington thing,hiring these potentially homesick players especially when they are on a big wedge. Perhaps there is a hidden message to look closer to home for players who will not walk out part way through their term.

Sorry to hear that, I was going of information that I'd seen on the government website. That sounds terrible for the individuals and families involved that can't get back home safely.

I think the Covid-19 issue excuses this one 100% if true. All the things that the Aussies like when they live here: travelling around UK, weekends and holidays in so many different continental European countries, the kids making new friends at school, experiencing Brit culture like pubs, bars, restaurants - they've all gone. Instead they've been stuck at home in an unfamiliar environment with little to do and home educating kids in a curriculum that's entirely new to them.

Have said it countless times before, but anybody swapping Australia for the M62 corridor towns of England needs their heads examining.

Because most of us live in those towns, we are pretty immune to seeing the obvious, which is that the vast majority are absolute sh!+holes and don't even even have a half decent climate to make up for it.

Coming from Sydney and the like is a massive downgrade - Its little wonder that homesickness is so prevalent.

I was told six weeks ago that his family had gone back to Aus, couldn’t settle here.
Widdop probably seeing the season out.

The grass is always greener. Surely the high salaries they are paid would compensate them for living in the ghettos of Grappenhall and Appleton. Winters can be grim, but Aussie winters aren't particularly nice especially in the south and we have had decent weather since April.

I have great sympathy for the Widdop family. No one could plan for what has happenned. You know hardly anyone, you & kids can't go out etc.etc. ... a terrible time to move to another Country. Most people/everyone would struggle in these circumstances.

Sydney or Stockton Heath??

I think it's fair to say that we can have just as bad weather in our summers as the Aussie's get in their winters. Let's face it ,in the rugby league heartlands of the UK , most of our summers are washouts. On my 3 visits to Perth in Aussie winter time i have been pleasantly surprised with the weather.

Stockton Heath I work in Manchester and it's far handier

A lot have opted for SH over Sydney over the years.

This. It's much harder to make it work in a strange country with family since Covid19 broke out.

Something like 50% of Brits who emigrate to Australia return within the first few years and in a rugby context, John Bateman has chosen to return quite soon so certainly the grass isn't always greener.

It is something that seems to happen more with the modern player though; many of our overseas signings of the 80s and 90s were here for 5 years or more. I don't think the weather was any more tropical back then, or Bridge Foot resembled Sydney Harbour more closely but I might be wrong.

That would depend on how much HBC was imbibed.