LEE Briers hopes Wire fans will now see the ‘exceptional’ best of Tyrone Roberts now rumours about his future have been put to bed.

Wolves announced on Monday that Australian half-back Roberts will leave the club at the end of 2018 to return to his homeland.

The 27-year-old exercised an option in his three-year deal with the club to leave after one season and he is now expected to re-sign for former club Gold Coast Titans.

Assistant coach Briers admits the news came as “a bit of a shock” to him but says Roberts should now be able to play with more freedom.

“I think he’s been outstanding in the past few weeks for us.

“Since he’s decided he was going to go, you can see his performances have been improving and some of them have been top-notch.

“He’s lifted that weight off his shoulders now and he can play with all that talk free from his mind.

“It did come as a bit of a shock. I’ve worked closely with Tyrone and he never said to me he was of a mind to go home but I totally understand his reasons for doing it.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with him, though, and I hope the next four months or so are just as enjoyable. He’s an exceptional player.

“It’s about Tyrone being happy with his family.

“It happens to teams all over our competition and unfortunately, it’s happened to us this time.

“I’m positive he came over with the intention of finishing his three-year deal.

“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll enjoy the time we have left with him in our team and move on.”

With no fixture this week, Roberts and his teammates have been given the week off by head coach Steve Price.

The players will return to training tomorrow to prepare for their next Super League fixture against Salford Red Devils on June 29.

They will be joined next week by Chris Hill and Stefan Ratchford, who will both play for England in tomorrow's mid-season Test against New Zealand in Denver, Colorado.

Briers says the players have been instructed to “get away from rugby” in order to be as refreshed as possible for the remainder of 2018.

“It has come at a good time for us. We’ve been playing really tough,” he said.

“It’s good for everybody, coaches and players.

“It will be good for the lads to have a nice week away and the chance to get away from rugby.

“The coaches have made sure the guys don’t even think about rugby for this week.

“Hopefully, they will be physically and mentally refreshed and ready to go for the last part of the season.”