I believe what David Skipwith is saying, he's well connected at the club.
Forget all the stuff about the Warriors poorly organising their roster. Here's the more likely version: Shaun knows in September he's not going to be re-signed automatically before his deal is up. He and Peter Brown test the waters. Media gets a sniff of it, George knows pretty much that Shaun is gone, and is not prepared to play happy families in the papers. Shaun lies that he's not been told, even though the Herald says Kearney made a point of telling him. Shaun continues to play the PR game on social media, knowing he's got a cult following and that they'll revolt against the club (the same club Shaun claims to be a die-hard lover of, despite threatening to walk on them). He says he won't perform, the club quite right tells him to go - which they would've done at the end of 2019 anyway.
Shaun is an average bloke, in my opinion. The 'youse got your way', the constant bristling against the attention he gets (million reasons to ignore it and focus on his game) and we're now being told, and I believe it, that his training commitment is half arsed.
The fans can say 'he'll go somewhere else and win a premiership before us, what a dumb call etc' and maybe he will. But he was on easy street at the Warriors, coasting along when he should've been a leader, striving to make us and himself the best they can be - like RTS did. He's been jacked off too many times in the media and by the public, he's the marketing darling who can do no wrong in many eyes. And he acts like it.
This is the best thing that's happened to the club in ages. And it's no fault of our own that we find ourselves without a 7. The club had every right to believe someone who tells everyone he loves the Warriors so much and wanted to stay to win a premiership would see out his fat contract.