It seems those of us who thought that we would lose Michael were right.
Reading the TV3 article and his non-selection for the Japan game, it sounds like to me that he got so irritated by the way Ricki/NZF went about him that he is now using the Japanese Passport / foreign Visa rule to kiss us all a long good bye.
Really annoyed that he is not now going to be in the AW frame as our defending depth has dropped dramatically in recent years from being our strength. Even the Nix are relying on Aussies in this department (Durante, Brindell-South, Caira).
Hopefully the new manager, who I hope is not Emblin (I want a completely clean break from the Herbert era), will be able to mend this and other bridges going forward and see him return to the Kiwi fold.