League: A trip to Helen back

It's not exactly War and Peace but Vinnie Anderson has been through a saga Tolstoy would have been proud to tell.

The 26-year-old Kiwis utility player's story finally had a happy ending this week when he signed a three-year deal with St Helens worth up to $1.3 million following his shock release from the Warriors a month ago.

Security is a word often overused by sportspeople but Anderson had more reason than most to cite this as a reason for signing with Super League's most successful club.

After his acrimonious departure from the Warriors, Anderson put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the London Broncos only for this to be held up because of the Broncos' financial difficulties. They narrowly avoided being kicked out of the Super League and their move into administration meant Anderson was free to negotiate a new deal. Five clubs sprung into action, all offering at least $1 million over three years.

"I was hoping to be able to play at London but they were having financial problems and I didn't want to give them my final commitment until they could prove to me they would be around for a long time," Anderson said from his base in the north of England.

"The owner personally guaranteed to fund the club for two years but I wanted to sign a three-year deal so I went for the security of an established club. I'd spent a couple of weeks stressing about my future so once I heard St Helens were interested, that was it for me."

Anderson's hand was forced to a certain degree considering that the deadline to be registered for the Challenge Cup was at 5pm on Monday.

While Anderson says that he has now "moved on" following his controversial departure from the Warriors, he's still dumbfounded by what happened and surprised at the lingering media interest.

"It was a pretty stressful time for me and after a few days I was surprised it still hadn't settled down," he explained.

"I suppose it was an issue that was important to a lot of people. I was certainly disappointed how things turned out."

While the Warriors have refused to speak publicly about Anderson's release, one thing that was highlighted was his pelvic injury.

"It's absolutely fine," Anderson said. "It's something I've carried since the end of 2002 and it's never prevented me from playing a game.

"It was ridiculous Mick Watson brought that up - show me a footballer that doesn't carry around some sort of injury. Mick seemed to have a personal problem with me but it's all in the past now."