Gareth Ellis – one of the greatest English imports to play in the NRL – will return home next year after being given a release by Wests Tigers.

The Tigers allowed Ellis to opt out of the final year of his deal in 2013 – with the English Test backrower likely headed back to Leeds, where he played from 2005-2008.

His impact on the Tigers is summed up by the fact he snared the club’s player of the year title in each of his three seasons in Australia, that in a side containing Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.

Ellis had always indicated an intention to finish his career back home, having played for Wakefield Trinity and Leeds before arriving in Australia for the 2009 season.

The 31-year-old renegotiated a new contract midway through 2011, which included an option for him to leave after this season.

“I feel the time is right for me to return to England,” Ellis said.

“It was a difficult decision to make as I have really enjoyed my time at Wests Tigers.

“I have a young son now, my wife Rachael and I feel it is time to head home to our families at the end of this season.”

His impending departure will only heighten the Tigers’ desperation to clinch this year’s title, having come so close in each of the last two campaigns.

The Tigers are the bookies’ favourite heading into the campaign, centre Chris Lawrence admitting the club had to take care of the regular season first – starting with Sunday’s tussle against Cronulla at Leichhardt Oval.

“We’ve placed some pretty high expectations on ourselves and we have the last couple of years,” Lawrence said.

“We’ve always aimed for the top four.

“The main thing is to start well.

“The last two years we haven’t started well and had a bad patch in the middle of the year and had to rely on winning eight or nine games in the back end just to get there.

“For us it’s about being consistent and not having to win nine or 10 games just to get in that top four.”