Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet has said that Zak Hardaker, who was released by the club last week to pursue a move elsewhere, had failed to learn from his mistakes.
The former Man of Steel left the Warriors after being dropped from the team for failing to meet the club’s standards off the field.
Hardaker was due to be out of contract at the end of this year and was expected to look for a move closer to his West Yorkshire home then.
But his near four-year stint at the DW Stadium has now been brought to a swift end, with Peet wishing him well for the future but insisting the club had little choice but to let him go.
“We have standards and (there have been) repeated breaches, you could say; not meeting what is expected of the group and the club,” said Peet.
“Zak has been part of the conversations where we’ve said what we want to be about, as have all the team and staff. For that reason it becomes an obvious decision even if it’s not an easy one.
“There are two sides; there’s the care for Zak as an individual, which I continue to stress.
“But there’s a care for all the other individuals in the club; the players, the staff, the fans, the Academy. We have to do the right thing for the majority.
“I’m disappointed for Zak because I know he wanted to make it work here, but it’s not to be.
“At heart Zak wants to make it work, but there’s got to be accountability.
“People make mistakes, but we’ve got to see people learning from their mistakes and unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”
Wigan captain Thomas Leuluai has been ruled out for up to three months with a knee injury suffered in the Good Friday derby at St Helens.
Hooker Sam Powell was handed a six-match ban for his crusher tackle in the same game, ruling him out until June.
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