Sandow walked away from the final year of his Warrington deal worth a reported $450,000 a year.

The 27-year-old disclosed he had been struggling since returning to England late last year for pre-season training following the death of his uncle who passed after a long battle with cancer.

“It’s a long way from home and I’m really family orientated,” Sandow told Fox Sports.

“When I went over there, my uncle, my dad’s brother, passed away from cancer. We’re really close. He’s like a dad to me.

“I came over for his last couple of weeks when he got really sick but then he lasted another month and he passed away so I had to come back in a matter of weeks.

“It broke my heart. I’ve grown up with all my family around me. My uncle is a big part of me being where I am today and it’s sad I couldn’t see him out.

“I promised myself that’s not going to happen again. When I got home from England I got comfortable and emotionally attached to my family. It was a tough decision to make.

“Seeing my brothers and their kids who hardly know me, that breaks my heart. They see me as uncle Chris on TV (but) they don’t see how loving and caring I am and that sits in the back of my head every day. That’s not me as a person.”

Sandow, who was released from the Eels in 2015 after a series of off-field woes, said he was disappointed in himself for not being upfront with Warrington.

“It’s been building for quite a long time,” Sandow said.

“I should have been a man about it and explained to them what was happening.

“I’m from an Aboriginal community and communication isn’t something that always comes natural to me

“I’m not a big communicator in the video sessions and I let my football do the talking on the paddock.

“I went over there at the back end of last year and it’s a good club to go to. But it’s hard to go back knowing what I’ve got here in Australia and that’s family.

“They’re number one. Family is the most important thing to me and that’s why I made the decision not to go back to England.”