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Manly need to forget about "Giftygate"

16th April, 2014
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Glenn Stewart in Origin training camp AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Roar Guru
16th April, 2014
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1589 Reads

The sooner the Manly Sea Eagles come to grips with losing Glenn Stewart the sooner they can get on with the job of playing top class footy.

How did the NRL allow the Manly Sea Eagles to put themselves in such a vulnerable position? Not only financially, but “Giftygate” has the potential to rip one of the tightest clubs apart when one of their favoured sons is forced to walk.

Manly were runners up in last year’s grand final, and in order for them to field their best possible side they needed to fit a square peg into a circle hole.

So, with the approval of the NRL, Manly heavily back-loaded Stewart’s current contract.

The club are now seeing the negatives of this short term solution.

The salary cap increase bonuses for the past four seasons are due this year, which in a nutshell means that Manly will have to shed some of their promising kids if they want to keep the popular “Gifty” Stewart.

That means Stewart is on the 2014 books for around $800,000 and his real value is around half that.

Let me qualify “real value”.

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The analytics that I use to value players, based on the salary cap, puts Glenn Stewart in 2014 between $400k to $450k.

I asked a leading recruitment manager his estimate and he said $350k adding, “I am a big fan but he is injury prone and he is 30. If he was 23 it would be fundamentally different”.

What is clear is that the Sea Eagles have a lop-sided book, and given they also back-ended Kieran Foran’s contract, their problems are not likely to go away.

Manly members and footy fans are entitled to ask how the NRL approved these high-risk transactions. Why did the club make such an irresponsible decision?

The Manly leaders Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Anthony Watmough and Jason King all have pushed for Glenn Stewart to be re-signed, but for it to happen they would likely have to not re-sign their most promising young player Peta Hiku. Hiku is only 21 and can play any position in the backline.

The versatile Jamie Buhrer and running back rower Tom Symonds are also out of contract after this season and would struggle to extend if Stewart stayed.

The wolves are circling and every club knows that Manly cannot hang on to everyone.

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It is possible for clubs to agree on a deal and make it happen prior to the transfer cut off in June. Theoretically, the wealthy Canterbury Bulldogs could pay out Glenn Stewart’s contract and take him off the troubled Sea Eagles’ hands.

For good measure they could throw in his loving brother Brett “Snake” Stewart.

This hypothetical transaction would save Manly millions, put a smile back on their bank manager’s face and allow them to re-sign all their promising young players.

It would also solve the Bulldogs fullback problems with “Snake” replacing Sam Perrett, and big brother “Gifty” slotting straight into lock.

The Bulldogs would firm into premiership favouritism overnight, but importantly we could stop reading every morning about G. Stewart.

Just play footy fellas, what happens, happens.

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