Dobson to leave Salford

Michael Dobson will depart Salford and Super League at the end of the season to return Down Under.

Dobson, 31, has made more than 250 appearances in the northern hemisphere over an 11-year period having first come over with Catalans back in 2006.

He played for Wigan before brief stints at Canberra and Newcastle in the NRL either side of a six-year spell at Hull KR.

Dobson said: “I’ve been thinking about it for the last year and I’ve got a young family and it’s time to take the family home.

“I’ve been here for ten seasons now and we’re just ready to go back, settle down and take a step back from full-time rugby league and move onto the next phase.

“I’m going to play a little bit semi-professionally back in Australia and working within another club trying to get my foot in the door within the realm of coaching and development.

“I’ve loved it over here I’ve been here for ten years and, I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d be here this long but that’s probably why we’ve loved it so much.

“Obviously, I’ve loved the Salford Red Devils. We’ve had a hard three years but a good three years they’re a great bunch of lads and coaching staff here and the people who are involved with the club are great have been great, so it was a tough decision.

“Marwan’s ambition alongside the quality of players at the club was the reason I signed and since Ian Watson has come in everything’s really clicked and it’s made it hard to leave because of how close-knit we’ve become but, of course, family has to come first.”

Dobson has played his final game for Salford after suffering a thumb injury in the defeat to Wigan.

Salford could now turn to Catalans half-back Luke Walsh as his replacement, with fellow Australian Todd Carney also set to depart the AJ Bell Stadium at the end of the season.