Ninemsn:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=177666
Brian Carney quits rugby league
Tuesday Jan 16 13:00 AEDT
By Danny Weidler
National Nine News
Sport reporter
Great Britain winger Brian Carney has quit rugby league only days after starting training with his new club.
The 30-year-old international joined the fledgling Gold Coast Titans team after a year playing with the Newcastle Knights and was expected to take a leadership role within the team.
But sources close to the player say Carney simply realised he had lost his passion for the game over the summer break.
It is also believed he is missing his family in Great Britain and Ireland, where he began his career in Gaelic football before being lured across the Irish Channel to play rugby league with the Wigan club in the north of England.
The news caps a horror day for the club after fellow star signing Mat Rogers succumbed to an ankle injury in his first training session.
Carney came to Australia at the urging of league legend and good mate Andrew Johns and was one of the standout players in the 2006 Knights team.
But speculation about Carney's desire to play for the Titans started to circulate last week when he was delayed in joining the club's pre-season training regime.
At the time, Titans coach John Cartwright said the Irishman was held up by visa problems and would not follow in the footsteps of unsettled winger Steve Turner.
The wing position is becoming something of a hoodoo for the Titans, with Turner still locked in negotiations with the club to remain with the Melbourne Storm.
