Rob Purdham isn't ruling out joining a Super League team in the north as he prepares to leave Harlequins at the end of the year.
Quins skipper admits leaving was a big decision
Rob Purdham admits he will be leaving Harlequins with a heavy heart at the end of the year - and isn't ruling out joining a new club in the north.
The Quins captain and England World Cup forward is ending his decade of service to London's Super League club and returning to his roots in Cumbria for family reasons.
Purdham will be sorely missed in London - he is the club's longest-serving player and has been their captain since 2007 - and he admits he will be leaving with a heavy heart.
"It's been a big decision for me," he said. "London has been my home for the last 10 years.
"When we've been back up to Cumbria, we always say we're going home to London. I spent 21 years up there and I do miss the countryside, especially in the summer months, but we made London our home and really enjoyed it."
But Purdham says it is now time to go home, especially with wife Sarah expecting their first child on Christmas Eve.
"There was a point, after Garry's death and the funeral, when it would have been quite easy to stay in Cumbria but the family were all supportive of me continuing my rugby," he added.
"You don't get long to play the game - it's not as if you can take two years out and go back to it. Also I signed a contract and I wanted to honour it.
"I was going to sign for Harlequins again but things changed. My dad's cancer came back and he was on about selling the farm.
"The timing is right. My wife is pregnant as well and we wanted to be close to the family. We've missed so much over the last 10 years."
Future options
Purdham has yet to decide whether to continue his rugby career and will take his time to ponder his future.
His local club Whitehaven, for whom he made 53 appearances from 1999-2002, would welcome him back but, at 31, he reckons he still has something to offer Super League and will not rule out joining a team in the north.
"People keep asking about that," he said. "I've got to sell my house and move lock, stock and barrel to start a new life and at the moment I'm concentrating on that.
"I suppose by Christmas time, after the baby is born, I will decide whether I want to carry on playing and at what standard.
"At the start of the year I was looking to stay down here and I was going to try and get a new two-year deal. I think Harlequins would have sorted one out for me. I still feel I have something to offer the game."
Purdham will make his farewell appearance for Harlequins in Saturday's last match of the season against St Helens at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday and is not sure how he will handle the occasion.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet," he said. "I was coming back in the car from Sunday's game with Chad Randall and he said it would be the last away trip we'd be doing together and it started me thinking about it then.
"I'm not really an emotional person. I don't know how it's going to affect me.
"I think it will be next year when it will hit me, when I won't be back with the boys for pre-season."
