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Rationally, the shelf life of a pro top-level rugby player expires when they hit about 32-34 yrs, anything beyond that is a bonus. On that alone, from my point of view, the cold hard decision has to be and has been made. No doubt there will be a significant few who would have loved to give (award) Sharpie the top-up but really, and in looking to the future, there are, and will be, younger players who the Wallabies will need to retain/attract and develop in time for 2015 and 2019.
Furthermore, and to be fair to the ARU, Sharpie previously suggested he was looking at retirement sometime after the World Cup (or intimated that he was not sure what his plans were beyond 2011). I doubt anyone, bar Sharpie, would like to work with a year-to-year contract negotiation process.