LEIGH LEOPARDS star Zak Hardaker as admitted he “kicked up a bit of a fuss” to leave Wigan Warriors midway through the 2022 Super League season.
Hardaker, who had signed for Wigan following the end of his drugs ban, spent three-and-a-half seasons at the DW Stadium where he registered 80 appearances and accrued over 500 points.
However, midway through 2022, the 31-year-old left Wigan and joined old club Leeds Rhinos in a deal that shocked a number of people.
Chartering that exit from the Warriors, Hardaker revealed on-field and off-field problems contributed to his desire to leave.
“Me and my partner at the time had just had a little boy and my rent was up at the end of the year,” Hardaker said on the Fully Game podcast. “I was going to have to sort the rent for the following year but I wanted to buy in Wigan.
“I liked living in Wigan, the club is really good, it was good to me and I thought I could see myself staying at the club until I was 35, 36 as I had a four-year offer on the table at 29.
“But I moved back for Christmas, my partner at the time got comfortable around family and friends and said she didn’t want to move back.
“So she moved back home and the distance thing started going on so we split up. I stayed over there and didn’t come home, so it was a bit of calamity.
“The coach at the time, who is now at Leigh, Adrian Lam kept putting me on the wing. I don’t mind playing on the wing but we had wingers. I don’t mind centre and I prefer fullback.
“I was getting kind of p*ssed off, my family was back home and I was living there to play fullback or centre and I wasn’t getting picked there so I was getting a bit angry.
“That happened for three or four weeks and I lost my head a little bit and said I wanted to go because I wasn’t playing where I wanted to play, I wasn’t happy away from rugby and the only thing that keeps me sane is rugby and if I’m not playing where I want to play then I don’t want to be here.
“There was a bit of back and forth with that and I kicked up a bit of a fuss to leave and come back home and live with my family.”
Of course, Hardaker joined Leeds where he helped his old club make the Grand Final before joining the Leigh Leopards ahead of the 2023 Super League season.