Agree mjp2. This is a pro football club and this is way of pro sports, the situation of which we do not see in NZ cause our pro sports are relatively immature in their life cycle. NFL/NHL etc, this is common place. The management focus on the club. If you are leaving, thanks and have a good career but we have a team to run here and if you are not wanting in, see ya.
The flip side (like Tegal says) is that he is still one of our players and its a little cutting your nose off to spite your face in not playing him if he can be a difference maker. We can only speculate if he would have made a difference on Saturday but in the absence of any fact, the speculation can be valid