Club loyalty certainly isn’t what it used to be, and now the salary cap, ineffectual contracts and the lure of the dollar means that players change clubs on a regular basis.

Sometimes fans are happy to see a player go, but losing a top player when they’re in their prime or a prospect with loads of potential is no fun at all, particularly when you see that player lining up for the opposition in the following season.

In this, the ninth article in the series, I’ll pick a team of the best players who got away from South Sydney since 2000.

The only criteria are that the player named must have made his debut for Souths, left the club after 2000, and then played with another NRL club, rather than just retired or headed to obscurity in either the ESL or rugby.

(Details in brackets are the year the player debuted for Souths and the number of games played for the club.)

1. Wade McKinnon (2002, 26 games)

McKinnon was fast and a great ball-runner, and he hit the ground running with Souths in his debut season, the same year that Souths re-joined the NRL, notching up 20 games in the top grade.

Things didn’t go as well the following year for him and he left for Parramatta in 2004, where he played the best football of his career. A solid first grader.

2. James Roberts (2011, 10 games)

A talented player with discipline issues, Roberts looked the goods in his debut season before he was shown the door in 2012, joining the Panthers.

He re-joined the club for two seasons in 2018 but failed to impress. Roberts will go down as player who missed his opportunities.

3. Dylan Walker (2013, 62 games)

Walker had a great start in the game after debuting as an 18 year old and played some outstanding football for Souths, winning a premiership in 2014 and playing four Tests for Australia in the same year.

Discipline problems in 2015 saw him move across the harbour to Manly where he was embroiled in further issues. Walker could have been anything.