They stopped because Thomson could fly three regular flights for the time it took one bus-stop route to Oz to get there and back and for more revenue. Oz is now an ME3 fortress, you can't have all those EK/EY/QR heavies in a day and still expect SA/MK/QF etc.
Unfortunately it's not just Mr Brady that some of us consider to be misguided as shown by the article below.
The first comment by a reader after the article is perhaps a fair reflection of the concerns of those of us that see a risk (I put it no stronger) of MAN being adversely affected in terms of long haul routes, passengers and jobs.
Name one carrier you think would leave MAN for LHR, or even downsize in favour of LHR? Cathay are finally back on side, the ME3 continue to dominate, the US carriers don't have many gaps in the their LHR coverage. I honestly think we need to move on and be confident in MAN standing on it's own feet.