Who would want to be a Manly fan? Can anyone honestly remember the last time a club has been involved this heavily in a tug of war with its own players?
And not just any players, these are the core of Manly’s leadership group and have a wealth of big-match experience.
Firstly, we had reports in the middle of the 2014 season that Steve Matai and Brett Stewart were unhappy with the club, though these tensions seem to have evaporated (for now).
Departed players Glenn Stewart and Anthony Watmough played 19 Origin matches and 21 games for Australia between them.
And the Manly player exodus didn’t lose steam heading into 2015.
Star halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran have been the source of more media speculation than Tony Abbott these last three months. Despite reports that Manly’s salary cap had opened up following the departure of Glenn Stewart and Watmough, the unfathomable has occurred; after trying so hard to retain them, Manly are on the lookout for two new halves for 2016.
That’s ridiculous.
A headline in the Sydney Morning Herald in July last year read “Hands off our players, Manly Sea Eagles tell rivals” got me thinking, and with Foran confirming a deal with Parramatta, the final pieces fell into place.
To the tune of Good Charlotte’s 2006 tune ‘Keep your hands off my girl’ I penned the following song.
Let the players leave
Let the players leave
Let the players leave
The way that they play.
The way that they move
Manly your salary cap’s
Got no more room
You have big-name players
Who put on a show
You had Foz, Stewart, Daly and Watmough
Now this star playing group
Have flown the coop
You got class players performing for you every game
You’ve got an awesome number 6
Who you can’t afford
Next year he’ll be chilling
Down at Church Street mall
And the rumours keep swirling
The players want out
But the Manly board members can’t figure it out
They say ah ha, ah ha
Keep your hands off our players
Keep your hands off our players
They say ah ha, ah ha
But the rumours keep swirling
The players want out
They say ah ha, ah ha
Keep your hands off our players
Keep your hands off our players
Follow Harry on Twitter @harryeaston1
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