Just over a fortnight ago, Wigan Warriors eased past Wakefield Trinity in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and Zak Hardaker enjoyed an outstanding game. He scored a try and struck up some fine combinations with England team-mate John Bateman.
After the game, Matty Peet waxed lyrical about two of the best players of their generation. “I think Zak and John have got a good connection,” said the Warriors head coach after the 36-6 win. “They play well together and enjoy each other’s company.”
Fast forward and a couple of weeks and Hardaker’s Wigan career lies in tatters. He was ushered out of the club last week and so there will be no appearance at Elland Road on Saturday, May 7, a missed moment for a boyhood Leeds United fan. It says much for Hardaker’s career path – on Cloud Nine one minute and then in a pit of despair the next.
