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Over the last couple of days, Leeds Rhinos have reiterated that they don’t intend to release James Segeyaro from his contract.
In some quarters, that’s been seen as unnecessarily harsh.
After all, how could Segeyaro know he was going to be that homesick?
Similarly, how can he be expected to put in a good performance with a club when his heart is back in Australia?
Still, there’s something bracing – and impressive – about the Leeds decision.
We live in a time in which sporting contracts seem to mean less and less.
While there’s something exhilarating about the sheer whirlwind of player trades and movements from year to year – it’s almost a spectator sport in itself – too much contract flexibility can also threaten to ruin any sense of a stable team identity.
A point has to come at which a limit is established and it seems as if Leeds have reached that point.
The fact that the Rhinos have signed a good replacement hooker in Matt Parcell just makes their refusal to release Segeyaro all the more pointed – and it’s hard to blame them.
After all, this is the club that signed Chicko when he was out of favour at Penrith.
On top of that, Segeyaro was apparently presented with the option of a get-out clause in his contract and chose to waive it.
Finally, he can hardly be said to have given Leeds a chance, having only played there for the better part of a half a year.
The fact that he has departed the country without any intent to return is another nail in the coffin.
All up, it feels like a bit of a bad faith gesture from the previous Penrith poster boy.
Some commentators have observed that it’s a relatively rare situation.
Yet the fact that Chris Sandow has found himself in a similar situation with Warrington suggests that some precedent needs to be set.
It’s not just about contract integrity either, but about preserving the good will between the NRL and Super League.
While the two competitions operate more or less independently, the NRL still depends on Super League to offer sustenance to players who can’t or won’t fit within its own ranks.
Similarly, Super League provides a pool of players from which the NRL can occasionally draw as well.
At stake, then, is not just the particular fate of Sandow or Segeyaro but the procedural integrity surrounding NRL players who use Super League as a way of brokering a better deal back home.
While Segeyaro has been linked with the Sharks there’s no way that he would have been able to close that deal last year with Michael Ennis still on board, despite the recent tendency of some teams to sign two hookers.
While Super League may be a less prestigious competition, playing overseas often gives players a cache that makes them more marketable back home.
On top of that, a player’s willingness to leave Super League and change countries is often a more impressive gesture of dedication – it’s more dramatic to depart Leeds for Cronulla than to depart Penrith for Cronulla.
To some extent, Super League works well as a holding pen for NRL players who are down on their luck, at the end of their careers, or just looking for a change of scenery.
However, it’s important that relationship doesn’t extend so far as allowing players to take Super League for granted, and Leeds’ rigour in dealing with Segeyaro’s decision seems to be about making sure that doesn’t happen.
For what it’s worth, Chicko could also do with a bit of focus and discipline himself.
Earlier this year he felt like one of the most promising guns in the competition, so it’s been disappointing to see him fall short of his potential.
Hopefully, if he does return, Cronulla will provide him with a better tenure than he enjoyed at either Penrith or Leeds.
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