Furner also reiterated their preference was for Williams to be their halfback for the duration of his three-year deal when the Raiders boss fronted the media on Friday.

The Raiders released Williams, effective immediately, on Tuesday and Sam Williams will wear the No.7 jersey against the Sydney Roosters at Gosford on Saturday.

George Williams was halfway through his contract, but he and his pregnant partner Charlotte Lewis have been struggling with homesickness due to the coronavirus shutting the international borders.

He had repeatedly asked for a release at the end of the 2021 NRL season so he could return home, but the Green Machine felt an immediate release was in their best interest.

They've already been linked with out-of-favour Cronulla halfback Chad Townsend as a short-term option - he'll join the North Queensland Cowboys on a three-year deal at the end of the season - while off-contract prospects include Gold Coast's Ash Taylor and Shark Shaun Johnson.

The Raiders provided Williams with support to help with his homesickness, including offering extended time off in the off-season to allow him to go home to England to visit family and friends.

Player welfare was something Furner said the club went above and beyond with - and something they'd had to do for many years given their need to recruit players from outside of Canberra, with Queensland, New Zealand and England all proving fertile hunting grounds over the years.

But in the end they decided it was best to part ways and allow Williams to return home immediately.

It's believed Williams had offered to come back for the 2022 season on his own if the Raiders couldn't find a suitable replacement, leaving his family behind in England.

But the Raiders said they couldn't risk Williams not returning.

At this stage Williams hasn't signed the release.

"We didn't look at that option [of releasing him at the end of this season]," Furner said.

"That's why we needed to know where we're going now. That's what we have to do as a club is plan our future.

"There are other options now. We didn't want to look at them. George was our preference."

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Furner said he should've fronted the playing group to explain the decision during the week, rather than leave it to Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.

The Raiders boss admitted Williams' departure could impact the playing group's performance.

That's not ideal for a Green Machine that's won only one of their past seven games.

"It can do [have an effect]. It's difficult. I've said before coaching is a very difficult job - you're lined up week after week," Furner said.

"I used to joke with my brother [ and former Raiders coach David], when he did it - you're like a duck in a shooting gallery.

"It's a difficult job to manage everybody's expectations, everybody's individual issues have to be managed by a coach. It's very difficult."

Part of the process from now on was determining what termination payment Williams would be entitled to, with the Rugby League Players' Association lawyer handling things for the England international.

The Raiders' have left it in the hands of their own lawyers to determine whether they might be entitled to any compensation for the $200,000 transfer fee they paid Wigan to buy out their contract with Williams.

"I'm sure he's home sick, but we have a lot of people in this organisation - we have 120 people in this organisation - facing a lot more difficulties than homesickness and they turn up to work," Furner said.

"The process is a legal stand-off for a while. we have to work through it and that's what we're doing at the moment.

"We've left that all with our solicitors."

Melbourne Storm playmaker Nicho Hynes was off-contract at the end of the season and has openly admitted he might need to leave the reigning premiers in search of more opportunities.

The Brisbane Broncos put in an offer to Hynes ahead of their 40-12 loss to the Storm on Thursday night.

Furner said Hynes was someone they would look at.

"Obviously we're always interested in good players," he said.

NRL ROUND 12

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Gosford, 7.35pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Caleb Aekins, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Sebastian Kris, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Dunamis Lui, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Josh Hodgson, 15. Iosia Soliola, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Ryan James. Reserves: 18. Elijah Anderson, 19. Harry Rushton, 20. Brad Schneider, 21. Hudson Young.

Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Josh Morris, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Lachlan Lam, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Ben Marschke, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 12. Sitili Tupouniua, 13. Isaac Liu. Interchange: 14. Adam Keighran, 15. Nat Butcher, 16. Daniel Suluka-Fifita, 17. Fletcher Baker. Reserves: 18. Tukupa Hau, Tapuha, 19. Naufahu Whyte, 20. Egan Butcher, 21. Joseph Suaalii.