By Julian Shea

Stand-off Long has bid an early farewell to his GB team-mates

In the words of Oscar Wilde, there is one thing worse than being talked about, and this is not being talked about.

And love him or loathe him, throughout his career, Sean Long's behaviour, both on and off the field, has given rugby league fans plenty to talk about.

The confusion surrounding his sudden departure from Great Britain's 2006 Tri-Nations squad in Australia will only divide opinion further.

The St Helens half-back's flamboyance and personality have made him almost a league equivalent of former Manchester United enigma Eric Cantona - an idol to his own fans, but a player many other teams' supporters love to hate.

A quick look at his career CV shows why the 30-year-old is so venerated at Knowsley Road.

After a brief spell with hometown club Wigan, he joined Widnes, before moving to Wigan's arch-rivals St Helens in 1997.

In both 1999 and 2000 he broke Saints' club record for most points scored in a Super League season, helping them win the Grand Final both seasons, and he went on to collect the 2000 Man of Steel award.

He has also helped Saints to three Challenge Cup final wins, and is the only player to win the final's Lance Todd man of the match trophy three times.

The club stopped my wages for three months. It was a coster Sean Long

But one arrow the critics have regularly fired at Long over the years was his inability to produce his club form on the international stage.

Last year he missed out on the Tri-Nations altogether as he was recovering from having two metal plates inserted in a broken cheekbone.

But earlier this month, he made light of a nasty cut above his right eye to produce a man of the match display in Great Britain's 23-12 win over Australia.

Long (right) inspired Saints to a domestic treble this season

Coming hot on the heels of his integral role in Saints' domestic clean sweep, this looked to have killed off claims that Long went awol on the biggest stage.

But seven days later that bubble was burst by a 34-4 trouncing at the hands of New Zealand.

Long looked out of sorts in a generally inept team display, and 48 hours later came the shock announcement of his immediate departure from the tour.

The circumstances of Long's exit remain unclear.

Coach Brian Noble told the BBC it was at the player's own request because his wife is due to give birth soon.

He denied it was for disciplinary reasons, or that it was in any way associated with gambling.

Sadly for Long, despite his undeniable brilliance with a ball, the 'g' word is one that will forever be associated with his name.

In 2004 he was banned for three months for gambling on his own side to lose when injuries forced Saints to field a weakened team against Bradford. They duly lost 54-8.

Sean Long photo gallery

In an interview with the Guardian in 2006, he admitted the temptation for a quick flutter left him with badly burned fingers.

"I got a three-month ban but the press made a massive thing out of it because there was all that scandal with jockeys and cricketers betting," he said.

"So they jumped on the bandwagon and said I was fixing matches. It was nothing like that. I just put a bet on, all right, and made a mistake.

"I'd have been made up if we'd won. That would have meant more than the bet, which was only going to earn �900. But I ended up getting a 10-grand fine.

"My solicitors' fees were much more than that and then the club stopped my wages for three months. It was a coster."