Leeds Rhinos' Zak Hardaker maintains he did 'nothing wrong' at Wigan to prompt move

Zak Hardaker insists he didn’t do anything wrong at Wigan and is ready to make the most of his latest second chance.

The England international, 30, is set to make his ‘second’ debut for Leeds at Salford on Sunday after a traumatic few weeks. Hardaker, once banned for 14 months for testing positive for cocaine, was dropped by Wigan for “failing to meet standards off the field.” Just over a fortnight ago, he re-signed with Rhinos where he won the Treble in 2015 but the same day suffered a suspected seizure while out walking with his young son Abel.

Former Man of Steel Hardaker was aided by an off-duty paramedic - “it was scary and I’m so thankful” - and is now ready to return to action. On Wigan’s parting shot, he said: “I was a bit wary about how they worded it because it could come across like I’ve done something bad when I really haven’t.

“I’ve not done too much at Wigan – I’ve not done anything wrong. I could go down the rabbit hole of what’s really all happened, but I asked for a release last year. I was living in Wigan on my own and my young family was in Yorkshire, I was playing on the wing... there’s a lot of factors that go into me wanting to leave Wigan. I’m just really fortunate to be at a club like Leeds.”

Pontefract-born Hardaker insists he felt he needed to leave Warriors, where he had played since 2019 and was under contract until the end of the year. His partner is expecting their second child and the ex-Castleford full-back said: “Home can be wherever your family is really.

“My partner and my little boy did live in Wigan for a little bit and we were OK. But it didn’t end up the way we wanted it to end up; we have been living at my mum’s house for the last four, five months of last year. When the