Early on Thursday morning Brad Schneider said goodbye to his Canberra Raiders teammates and drove out of the car park of the club's headquarters at Braddon bound for a new adventure in England's north.
The Raiders released Schneider immediately to join Super League club Hull Kingston Rovers, with the halfback still able to return to Canberra if needed, in a special arrangement.
"We've protected ourselves so if there's an urgent need to bring Brad back there's an agreement by both clubs that he's allowed to come straight back home," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said of what was a "hard decision".