Steve Matai warns Sea Eagles could fly coup if Glenn Stewart leaves

[SeaEagleRock8]

Poor old Beaver must be a tad miffed that they didn't threaten to review their contracts when he was ushered out!

The NRL can't expect loyalty from fans when it has a cap system that works directly opposite and seeks to deliberately rip clubs apart.

Problem is, every other club has been beaten by Manly over the past 8 years and they want to change the loyalty allowance - but only after Manly is pulled apart.


Bottom line - if the guys love Gift as much as they say they better make sure they send him out with another premiership this year. Because if they aren't up to that task then none of them are safe, this club demands success!

 

[HappilyManly]

That's assuming he said it at all

Sydney Channel 9 is where I saw it. So Matai, Foz and Choc are all on tape threatening a walkout.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/watmoughs-manly-glenn-stewart-plea/x6er2lk


Disappointing is hardly the word. The next Membership drive is that much harder :dodgy:

 

[KaZa]

That's assuming he said it at all

Sydney Channel 9 is where I saw it. So Matai, Foz and Choc are all on tape threatening a walkout.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/watmoughs-manly-glenn-stewart-plea/x6er2lk


Disappointing is hardly the word. The next Membership drive is that much harder :dodgy:

I have mixed feelings about this. I am disappointed in how Choc and Matai have come out like this. I hope its to force NRL to act but they don't care about Manly losing players.

However at the same time.. I can understand them wanting to play with Gift and storming out if he is not signed. Reality is.. they wont.. unless they goto the club he signs for but then they wont be play with their other 'mates' at Manly. We cant expect the players to be 100% loyal to the club when the club just digards them when we don't need them anymore (Beaver.. now Gift.. Kitey etc).

So its a two way street. I am disappointed that we resigned so many players like Wolfie Horo and a few fringe players before we even considered looking at Gifty's contract.

Why cant we get a third party sponsor to help out? See how it plays out I guess. We could try to be shipping players out to fit him in, hence the delay.

 

[Masked Eagle]

I love how tight the playing group is, and there is no denying it's been a huge part of our success and what has enabled us to still be competitive despite going through things that would have torn other clubs apart. That being said, the players do need to realize the landscape, if we can't afford to pay Gift what he wants or the management (including coaches) believe we need to move on then that's the clubs right , actually it's obligation to ensure our future success.

 

[The Indian]

Gotta say I'm pleasantly surprised that most people on here seem to get it - it would be great to live in a perfect world where we keep all the old stars but it aint gonna happen. And if it did where would we be in 2 or 3 years time. I reckon we'd be similar to St George post 2010 who held on to their premiership team of old players, lost a few younger ones, and then fell off a cliff.

If the majority of fans can see that, then I reckon this management group which has proven to be one of the most astute in our history when it comes to player retention, will get it right too. Don't worry about emotive hype, leave that to the grubby journos.

 

[swoop]

I think most of our roster wants to stay together but there's one player that never gets mentioned or hasn't come out in support for Glenn. That player is DCE, he's had his contract upgraded and the club are trying to extent his contract.

Are the players going public because there really is a rift with the Stewarts and DCE and would rather the club keep Glenn. Even Foran said publicly that Mitchell Pearce will be the halfback in the league. I know they are mates and he may of just said that off the cuff.

I might be over-reacting.

 

[faithful]

Club (and only the club) will have to make a choice keep Glenn Stewart or let other people go , simples........

 

[bennyeagle]

I think most of our roster wants to stay together but there's one player that never gets mentioned or hasn't come out in support for Glenn. That player is DCE, he's had his contract upgraded and the club are trying to extent his contract.

Are the players going public because there really is a rift with the Stewarts and DCE and would rather the club keep Glenn. Even Foran said publicly that Mitchell Pearce will be the halfback in the league. I know they are mates and he may of just said that off the cuff.

I might be over-reacting.

Relax, probably the later

 

[jbb/james]

The players know exactly whats going on and why Manly cant offer gifty the coin. The DCE extension which if reported correctly is way too high. If fact cherry is the elephant in the room in this situation and i Understand why the players feel aggrieved. The core that made the team, which also made cherry have stuck together and taken less. For that to be all torn apart by 1 player or the clubs belief in this player would hurt and damage the morale no end.

look at tallis and wayne bennet fued

The fact that the players Know so clearly what the situation is makes the melbourne storm cap situation( where nobody knew anything) even more laughable but thats a different story altogether

Its a tough call. I remember Brian smith drawing a line in the sand at Parra stating no player would get more than 250K to balance the team and the egos

The reason Manly has done so well is they have introduced many players into a team with many mentors. Its seamless. If this is all real and the players and tooves know this will cause major disruption I would Ta Ta cherry in a heartbeat. If in fact his contract is the issue.

If Manly think glen is passed it, thats another issue that wont be resolved, and possibly Manly see this as a way to unload Brett from his enormous but under utilised contract

The Manly culture has always welcomed new comers to buy in, not cash in your chips. If Manly keep the culture we will have no problems stealing another gifted halfback for 350K when cherry departs that will work well with foran

 

[The Who]

From what Choc said he is asking the NRL to do something. He's not blaming Manly. I think sections of the media are blowing this out of proportion.
If a journalists asks any player: "Are you worried Glen may be forced out of Manly?", any answer - yes, no or non-committal, makes a story, ie.
Yes: X player urges Manly to retain Stewart.
No: X player believes Manly is strong enough to cope without Stewart
Uncommitted: Stewart re-signing issue has Manly players confused

That's how the media works. It just takes a one word answer to make a story. I know. I was a journo.

 

[tookey]

Another stuff up the new NRL commission.

They are doing absolutely nothing other than riding around in chauffer driven limousines achieving SFA.

Cut out the head office wankers and give more money to the clubs and players who are risking their lives every game.

Any player who has been at the same club for 10 years or longer should only have 50% of their salary counted in the cap.

It is what happens when you put a banker and a wanker in charge of the game. they stuff it up. They cannot even rig it properly so that souths win a premiership.

 

[maxta]

A massive part of recent success has been the loyalty & commitment this core group of players have had for the club & each other.
Lets call it down the line - we all love the us against them theory & it works well.
The players have a bond like no other club & are stepping up to show this to the public which is where it can cross the red line.
The media also use the world against Manly stuff & will jump on the slightest ripple when the opportunity is there.
Imo the fact the players want to keep Stewart at Manly is a given, but as shown in these gritty wholehearted footballing efforts against the Roosters & Souths, this team is not self destructing & pulling different directions as the media insinuate.
No doubt the players will get on with winning footy games as this circus is milked by the media for every drop, I'm just gunna enjoy the action on the field.

 

[Stevo]

From what Choc said he is asking the NRL to do something. He's not blaming Manly. I think sections of the media are blowing this out of proportion.
If a journalists asks any player: "Are you worried Glen may be forced out of Manly?", any answer - yes, no or non-committal, makes a story, ie.
Yes: X player urges Manly to retain Stewart.
No: X player believes Manly is strong enough to cope without Stewart
Uncommitted: Stewart re-signing issue has Manly players confused

That's how the media works. It just takes a one word answer to make a story. I know. I was a journo.

So the day you left, is that the day you stopped being a wanker?

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

The players know exactly whats going on and why Manly cant offer gifty the coin. The DCE extension which if reported correctly is way too high. If fact cherry is the elephant in the room in this situation and i Understand why the players feel aggrieved

I don't understand why the older players don't just get Cherry in a corner and bash the crap out of him.

edit - sorry, forgot the sarcasm emoticon

 

[Daddycool08]

So simply lets see what happens.

I would hold a meeting with all players - show them the salaries and the cap on an excel worksheet.

They need not place names next to the numbers but the players getting the amounts will know who they are.

Then leave the room and let the players have a discussion. Let them decide who will take a cut to give it to Glenn.

For example if the top 25 players took a cut of $100 per week that would free up $130,000.

If I'm a player on $300,000 per year I am earning around $3,576 net of tax per week, after the cut I'd be earning approximately $3,516 per week. Or roughly around $60 per less in real money. (I know not everyone is earning $300K by the way but I just took a figure to illustrate the point of the overall reduction.)

Even at a $150,000 per annum weekly net wage of approximately $1,996 would drop to $1,935. Similarly, around $61 per week after the cut.

Lets then see if their loyalty is for the club or themselves.

I suppose an accountant with some experience would then be able to do something to make the net pay about the same anyway. Not that I know what I am saying for with only 35 years experience others would know a lot more than I.

I suppose it all comes back to 'one man's pay rise is another man's job.'

Disclaimer - the figures quoted above are estimates only and anyone wanting to rely upon them should do their own investigation. I accept no liability for any mistakes or discrepancies as I have only done a 'rough' calculation.

I would suggest if you want to rely upon figures you should obtain proper accounting or other professional advice as you see fit.

 

[Disco]

Geez, cue to mass hysteria!!

Relax guys

None of the comments have offended me, its more the media whipping up some stories.........and i'm not even mad at the media as that is there job.

This group is tight......fact!

Will they be upset if a key member of the team goes.......of course!

Will players evaluate the playing roster when contracts are up for renewal.......again, of course, every player in the league looks at this when signing new contracts.

Have the players stated "if Glen goes we are all seeking instant releases so we can destroy this club".............No, so stop acting like they have.

To me this seems more like a campaign to pressure the NRL in regards to loyalty payments, try and entice a third party sponsor and of course make it know the the club that they value Glenn a great deal.

Oh and if you think Buhrer, Gift and Peta will all be here next year you are losing it.

Keep Gift let the other two go with a heavy heart

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

@Daddycool08 I like my idea better.

 

[Snake]

The thing that seems lost on some supporters is that it's Glenn Stewart! He is irreplaceable. Further, the reason we are a successful club in the first place is because of the kind of attitude Matai displayed in the article. You cannot blame the guy for sticking up for his mate, when you consider that pay cuts have been taken to keep the boys together. He just wants the club to show some loyalty towards a club legend. People keep bringing up Sheerer, Fulton, and Vautin, but just because poor decisions were made once upon a time, doesn't make it OK in this instance. Do whatever it takes to sign him up!

 

[The Who]

From what Choc said he is asking the NRL to do something. He's not blaming Manly. I think sections of the media are blowing this out of proportion.
If a journalists asks any player: "Are you worried Glen may be forced out of Manly?", any answer - yes, no or non-committal, makes a story, ie.
Yes: X player urges Manly to retain Stewart.
No: X player believes Manly is strong enough to cope without Stewart
Uncommitted: Stewart re-signing issue has Manly players confused

That's how the media works. It just takes a one word answer to make a story. I know. I was a journo.

So the day you left, is that the day you stopped being a wanker?

In my day it was viewed as a noble profession. These day there is a 24-hour news cycle and so much pressure on journos to fill space that I can understand, but not condone, that they don;t have the time to check facts. They are also expected to tweet and compile video and radio reports. There is not as many journos as there once was, due to cost cutting. Once something is reported all other media then re-report it without doing their own investigation.
Simply, media reports these days are not nearly as accurate, nor unbiased, as they used to be. We were never able to proffer our opinion; it had to be fact-fact-fact. We were largely anonymous; these days some journos think there are stars.
It's a shame to see what has happened to the news media.

 

[silvereagle]

Reported in today’s DT that Manly did not table any offer yesterday and have scheduled another meeting next week. Given all the publicity and hype, I think that would indicate an intent on the part of the Club NOT to renew Glenn’s contract. Otherwise I would have thought they would table say a base $400k plus another say $250k to be leveraged from the core playing group who have strongly backed the Club to retain Glenn. Pro-rata the $250k across say $4.5m for the core group and that equates to an easy 6% cut to the core group. I think that would fly.....assuming the Club does actually want to retain Glenn and he would be happy with $650k....1/2/3 years to see out his career. Question is does the Club really want to retain him??