FOR once, it had nothing to do with money.

This wasn’t a disgruntled player walking out on a club and his teammates or a club turning its back on one of its own.

It wasn’t even a question of loyalty or a contract not being worth the paper it was written on.

When Beau Scott walked into Matt Gidley’s office just over a week ago and told the Newcastle Knights CEO he needed to leave the club, it wasn’t even about football.

We are not looking for sympathy because there are plenty of people a lot worse off than us

Beau Scott

This was about family and the welfare of a little boy. Beau’s little boy.

Noah Scott has not yet turned two and is too young to understand what all the fuss is about.

But he is the reason why Scott and his family will pack up their bags and all their belongings at the end of the season and head back to Sydney.

He is also the reason why the Blues and Kangaroos’ star, one of the game’s toughest forwards, will leave Newcastle with the Knights blessing to join Parramatta for the next three seasons despite having a couple of years left to run on his current contract.

We’ve loved it up here in Newcastle. We haven’t lived in a better place

Beau Scott

Last week, Scott sat down with The Sunday Telegraph to fully explain for the first time the reasons why he is leaving the Knights, revealing his son Noah faces significant medical hurdles over the next few years because he was born with his right leg shorter than his left.

During the pregnancy, it was a difference of just a few millimetres. At birth, that had stretched to 1.5 cms. Now, a couple of months shy of his second birthday, the discrepancy is 2.5 cms.

Left untreated, it could be as much as 10 to 12 cms by the time Noah is fully grown which is why Scott and his wife Amelia are currently investigating surgery options in the USA where treatment is understood to be so much more advanced than it is in Australia.

It is also why the Scotts feel the need to move back closer to their extended family and close friends in Sydney because of the support network they can provide when surgery becomes a reality.

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media_camera Beau Scott helped off during the round five match between Knights and Dragons

Scott takes up the story.

“When we moved up here to Newcastle at the end of 2012, around Christmas time we fell pregnant,” he said.

“It was at the 20 week stage that Amelia had scans and they picked up a discrepancy in Noah’s leg. His right femur was shorter than his left. At the time, it was a couple of millimetres so it didn’t seem all that big a deal.

I guess it’s no one’s business other than ours but hopefully this will at least shed some light on the reasons for the decision

Beau Scott

“But the professionals in the field said we needed to look into it and since then, we have been dealing with a specialist in the US that’s pretty advanced in the whole leg lengthening surgical process.”

Scott says the uncertainty surrounding the whole issue has been the hardest thing to deal with.

“The leg can either grow less, it can grow more — we really don’t know,” Scott said.

“Noah has six-monthly X-rays and we’ve been sending emails and the results over to the specialist for updates.

“Six months ago, he told us Noah is going to need his first leg lengthening surgery when he turns four and other people we have spoken to who have been through similar experiences have told us the treatment can take up to six months with rehab over there in the US.

media_camera Beau Scott with son Noah.

“That rocked us a bit and then after the latest scans, we’ve been told he may need what’s called prep surgery over there after he turns two which is only a couple of months away.

“It’s all stuff we are working through and trying to deal with.”

Scott, who also has a four-year-old daughter, Ava, says he is not looking for any sympathy.

A notoriously private person, even some of Scott’s closest teammates were not aware of the issues he has been facing at home and he is only going public to set the record straight with Knights supporters and to thank the club for its understanding.

“I guess it’s no one’s business other than ours but hopefully this will at least shed some light on the reasons for the decision,” he said.

“We are not looking for sympathy because there are plenty of people a lot worse off than us.

“We have two perfectly healthy children and we are obviously grateful for that but Noah has a bit of a battle ahead of him and we want to give both our kids the best possible opportunity to cope with it all as best we can.

“I’ve been speaking to Matt Gidley and the club for the past 12 months over the whole thing.

“Living up here and being away from the extended family with a couple of young kids is one thing but dealing with this as well sort of just added to the whole stress of being away.

“I guess the desire to move back home was purely based on being around close friends and family and moving forward, it just gives us options being at home and me playing down there (with the Eels).

“We have Ava, who is probably going to school next year and our thoughts are if we can keep her life as normal as possible and leave her in school, we’ll have family to lean on if we are both not around or have to be overseas for an extended period with Noah. It is just something Newcastle couldn’t offer us.”

Scott says reaching the final decision was gut-wrenching.

“We’ve loved it up here in Newcastle. We haven’t lived in a better place,” he said.

“We love the club, we love where we live and what the club is aiming to achieve.

“Matt and Rick (coach Stone) have tried to do everything they could to find a way to make it work and keep us here.

“They both have families of their own and they understand family comes first and it’s just great to have people in a club like that.

“I can’t thank the club enough to be honest with everything they have done for us and the rest of the boys for their support as well.

“The fact that it has taken us so long to make the decision shows just how hard it has all been.

“It’s been on my mind for the whole time we have been in Newcastle. It’s just going to make it a whole lot easier with family around to help.”