Star St George Illawarra five-eight Gareth Widdop knows about changing clubs and has told The Illawarra Mercury he supports the decision of outgoing forward Trent Merrin who has signed a three year deal with the Penrith Panthers starting in 2016.

“It’s disappointing, Mez has been here for a long long time, but at least it’s done now and we can focus on the season,” Widdop said.

“It’s obviously been tossed around in the papers for a while but the season’s here now and the last thing you want is it dragging on into the season. It’s disappointing to see him go but we certainly support his decision and wish him all the best. He’s just focused on this year now and putting in good performances week-in, week-out. Our full focus now is this week and Monday night against Melbourne.”