Peter Jessup: Warriors fans deserved an answer

It's to be hoped that Stacey Jones' decision to leave the Warriors will be good for both him and the club.

Jones has struggled for some time with the direction he should take and the uncertainty has at times hung over the Warriors like a pall.

He wanted to leave last year when a huge offer came from Wigan but was talked out of that by the New Zealand Warriors board and chief executive Mick Watson, who didn't want to see him go out on the bad note.

"It was advice to him as a friend," Watson said yesterday of his turning-around of Jones' intentions.

They made him the club's first life member in recognition of the load he'd carried and the high performance he'd shown for much of his time there so he was honoured, regardless what happened.

And he was wheeled out at a press conference where it was announced he would complete his contract to the end of the 2006 season.

Jones had been plagued by rumours that his marriage was rocky, and the club did a lot to try to stifle talk that was untrue and destructive. But it clearly preyed on his mind.

Early this year, after a gruelling pre-season, Jones went to Watson and said he wanted out at the end of the season. He asked Watson to negotiate a deal for him.

"I took that as a personal compliment," Watson said. It was the Warriors boss who put the contract offer from new French Super League club UTC in front of the halfback.

Just last month the Warriors put out a statement saying Jones would sit down with Watson to discuss his future closer to the expiration of the anti-tampering deadline, which was a signal he was on the way out - there was nothing to be negotiated unless he was going.

Jones will be 29 in two weeks. He is the second-oldest halfback in the NRL behind Andrew Johns, 31.

And Johns has spent more time on the sideline than on the field since he turned 29.

Jones has played long seasons with representative commitments every year since he came into the NRL as a teenager in 1995. In many of those years he's been the dominant force and the fountain of expectation for both the Warriors and Kiwis.

He hasn't been the player he once was since he turned an ankle in the July 2003 test in Sydney.

Niggling leg injuries have cramped his style since then until this season, when he's looked much improved after having a longer off-season.

With the hammering all NRL halves take as a result of being targeted by big forwards it's hardly surprising that, like others in his age bracket, he is looking at a Super League competition that is not as hard and intense.

Though there is lots of rumour and speculation surrounding Jones' exit with a year to go on his contract along the lines of "did he jump or was he pushed", it's clear it is Jones who has made the decision.

The hard thing for fans to accept is that the club's longest-serving, highest points-scoring star is on the way out.

He wouldn't take questions at the press conference where the announcement was made, simply reading a statement.

It's unfortunate, because an open and honest discussion of the facts would have helped the supporters accept more readily the decision that their hero was going.

It was in stark contrast to the press conference held by Johns the week before the Knights-Warriors game, where he spoke passionately about wanting to turn the club's fortunes around after the worst start in their 18-year history.

And in contrast to the way the current Warriors captain, Steve Price, fronted the media and answered questions during the worst days of salary cap and sexual assault scandals at his former club, the Bulldogs.

When the major events occur the players have an obligation to those who pay for television coverage, team jerseys and tickets to the game to explain - it's not the media they're talking to, it's the supporters.

It's hard to see Jones achieving his stated aim of a lower profile in Super League.

A 34-test player, who has at times ripped up the Australians, is going to attract plenty of interest, even if it is concentrated on a couple of days once a fortnight when the Catalan team UTC is in England.

But both the Warriors and fans must now get used to life without Jones and let him get on with life away from the Warriors.

Hopefully, now the deal is done, all concentration will be on the paddock. There will certainly be plenty of "doing it for Stacey" in games from here-on as his colleagues try to make the playoffs.

The club has two halfbacks in Lance Hohaia and Nathan Fien, who was contracted last year specifically to replace Jones.

The freeing-up of Jones' large salary will allow the Warriors to hunt down an A-class specialist five-eighth from July 1.

It's the second year in a row that the week of the Anzac test has been the time for announcements from the Warriors about a major player.

It was test week last year when Ali Lauitiiti was dispensed with.

In both cases the club news has overtaken the test build-up.

And why wouldn't it. He's been the best player the club has seen.