Kearney being who he is:
when a player who has been playing well suddenly no longer gets selected, it historically is because of off field stuff.
The punishment usually lasts months ( going off his history) or indefinite.
Kearney is strict. He has that my way or the highway from his Paramatta and World cup mistakes ( too trusting of his players).
Kearney also practices the Bennett thing around good footballers being good people.
I'm not going to suggest any rumors around Sao because there are none.
But when Kearney took over you could tell two things....one was that a lot of heads would roll....two was that he would employ loyalists only.
Fortunately for us he had links with Blake Greem through the network, so Green met the criteria....otherwise those standards could be self limiting in the short term.
It's interesting that Kearney used Loyalty to keep RTS, convince Harris to come, and to get Blair to earn his money here.
It's ironic that the Warriors old bro culture ended up alienating a lot of the younger players ( per Jazz Tevanga). Most were too scared to be part of the top side.
Now the young guys, and the senior players have very clear and simple roles, the squad has found equilibrium and harmony themselves. Player lead culture ( hardly original ) has turned a lot of very average performers into a formidable group.
I look with interest to see who's been a good boy when the team is picked today.