... but now Stu has finally given in ... to the call of desert!
His work as a project engineer is about to take him to Egypt and so the thirtysomething has officially announced that he is no longer available for selection.
However, he will be making at least one more appearance when he turn out for Brett Cullinane's side which takes on the RFU's Woodenspoon AA side on the August Bank Holiday.
Stu will be a big miss both on and off the pitch. He was a leading light at Horden but somehow John Stabler managed to persuade him to join a struggling West side - much to the anonyance of his Colliery pals
Typically Stu wanted to test himself in the National Leagues and certainly never looked out of place - even when he volunteered to help a depleted side at Dudley Kingswinford by playing prop when Carlo Robinson got injured in the warm up.