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Manly’s central brick has been removed, and the wall could come tumbling down sooner than many think.
Yesterday’s announcement that Glenn Stewart had signed with South Sydney is a dagger through the heart of the Sea Eagles’ faithful. Manly fans are more than entitled to be seething.
How on earth did this happen?
Why couldn’t this so-called glamour club find a way to keep ‘Gifty’ Stewart on their books in an age when we are told third-party agreements regularly top up baseline contracts?
The Broncos don’t seem to have much trouble keeping their senior players on their books. Nor do the Bulldogs, Storm or Roosters.
If they really want you, they find a way to keep you. But Manly? No. Feel free to negotiate.
Perhaps they have a few too many established stars to keep happy alongside their superstar halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran.
They’ve got the other Stewart, Brett, who in my opinion is the best player in the joint.
When talking contracts, they’ve also got to look after the likes of Jamie Lyon, Anthony Watmough, Jason King, Matt Ballin, Jamie Buehrer and up-and-comer Peta Hiku.
We Roarers all have opinions and mine is that co-captain King or the talented but seriously butter-fingered Watmough would have been better players to offload than Glenn Stewart.
I do not know the ins and outs of Manly contracts, but whoever let G Stewart get to a position where he had to leave the joint needs a size 10 in the backside.
Anyone who has watched the Sea Eagles achieve what they have in the past decade must have noticed that man’s ball-playing skills and defensive steel. He has been an energiser bunny in maroon-and-white.
His one-two combination with brother Brett is just about the best in the NRL. It has repeatedly been uncanny, instinctive, and totally impossible to defend.
In my opinion, Manly has chosen not to upgrade one of the most important cogs in their machine, if not the most important.
Some are saying that brother Brett will be asking for a release in the wake of Glenn’s exit, even though he is contracted for another three years. I don’t really know about that, but I do know the freakish fullback will be severely pissed off that a greater effort was not made to keep his bro around.
In a nutshell, I think there will be a very special and concerted effort launched by the Manly players to win this year’s comp with both Stewarts and the ‘old gang’ on board.
That gang won’t be a part of 2015 or beyond. If you fancy a bet on football, I’d say have a flutter on the Sea Eagles today because tomorrow’s team doesn’t look anywhere near as potent. Manly will be men on a mission, they could become obsessed with winning one more title.
Having said that, I congratulate Souths for their astute signing – my mail was that he was Canberra-bound for certain, and my postie has been subsequently sacked.
He may well turn out to be the link they have been lacking between their forwards and backs.
The Rabbitohs needed a ball-playing forward who also does more than his share of defence. They have probably snared the very best in the rugby league world.
But back to Manly . . .
A player with Glenn Stewart’s skill-set cannot and will not be found at Brookvale for many a day. He is a major loss and I can only see a downward spiral for the Sea Eagles over the next few seasons.
You cannot remove the central brick and expect the wall to endure.
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