Daly Cherry-Evans is copping flak about how he is handling his negotiations for next year, but we should all just lay off him – he is not breaking any rules and is just looking out for his best interests.
If I switched jobs then changed my mind and was given the opportunity to go back to my original position, I definitely would. All of us probably would.
The main objective in life is to be happy and if for Daly that is in Manly, then he should stay.
It is frustrating for clubs and fans that they don’t really know what is going on until after Round 13 but that is the rule in place. Player managers are using it to their advantage and rightly so.
The worst part of the DCE situation is that it could be a media beat-up, and after Round 13 it will become clear that he will be at the Titans in 2016. Despite this, Daly has been criticised more than several other players who actually did backflip on their deals.
Josh Papalii, James Tedesco and the Mata’utia brothers all backed out of contracts with new clubs to stay put, and received little or no criticism at all.
So why so much hate for Daly?
The transfer system needs to be totally overhauled but how is a very difficult question to answer.
An end-of-year system has been touted but the NRL is in a unique position where this method would almost certainly fail. Unlike soccer, rugby league has to be aware of the threat of rival codes, predominantly rugby union. If players had to wait until the end of the year to sort out their contracts, it would open the possibility of union teams signing them beforehand.
If I was in good form in the middle of a season, I would want a big-money deal sorted before I suffered a loss in form or a season-ending injury to drive my price down.
The current system is also a failure as teams consistently fail to perform when key players have signed elsewhere a year in advance. You only have to look at Manly this year with DCE and Kieran Foran leaving. Another example is the 2012 Warriors who went from grand finalists to also rans after James Maloney signed with the Roosters.
My suggestion is to bring back the June 30 deadline, which is the best of both worlds from the two ideas mentioned above. Yes it was unpopular when it existed due to clubs secretly negotiating with players but it can be tweaked to work efficiently.
One way is to impose harsh penalties on teams who do these secret negotiations, perhaps a two premiership-point deduction for each player they are talking to. This method gives players ample time to sort out their futures while preventing clubs having a player on their books that they know will be leaving.
I am not suggesting this is the optimal solution, but I am yet to hear a better alternative.
Hopefully this mess is fixed up in time for the 2016 season but in the meantime as a Manly fan, I am praying for that DCE backflip. Let’s chuck in Kane Elgey and Nate Myles too.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Louis, there are a lot of things you can do in this world that people will still think you're being a tool for. This is one of those things, and Cherry-Evans is mostly copping criticism because he's the highest profile player. The Raiders also copped a lot of criticism for trying to get Milford to break his deal with the Broncos last year too.
Russell Johnson
Guest
ESL is a competitor now, is it? Well I guess that sums it all up for me! Lumped into the mix with kick and clap by our "so called" Brothers in arms.......... "Altogether now!" "These mist covered mountains are home now for me....." Now wonder Vichy appears to outsiders as if it runs rings around our game internationally! Sleiman Azizi I see what you mean now and I no longer hold out any hope for this sport!
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
What did they say?
Louis McIntyre
Roar Guru
But it's not just fans that are upset. The players don't like it either. There are countless examples starting with what Mick Ennis said on NRL360 this week and Cam Smith's interview on Monday.
Louis McIntyre
Roar Guru
I agree with the competitors and the two week cooling off period but I still don't like the fact that players can sign for new clubs more than a year in advance
pjm
Roar Rookie
What happens if a club doesn't get the player they want and run out of time finding one before the season?
Sleemo
Guest
Pretty obvious in my book that the rumours were started by Orr. Crumb of a bloke who got DCE the three-year deal they both wanted on minimum wage in 2010 because no club other than Manly would give him a multi-year contract ... and then after one good year tells DCE to threaten to leave after 2012 unless his minimum-wage contract - the contract he got because no other club wanted him - was bumped up for the next two years. If Orr was a good player manager he wouldn't have advised DCE to sign a three-year deal if he knew the kid was so good - he would have said, sign a one-year, blitz it and then we'll get you a better deal afterwards. I don't see Chrissy Sandow's manager going to Parra and saying "you know what, Chris hasn't been playing to his price tag over the past couple of years, he's only worth about $200k so here's $350k pa back for each of the past three years". If a club tried to do the reverse to a player they'd be sued - all they can do is threaten a player with reserve grade. As a Manly fan, if DCE leaves or not, that's his prerogative - I'm easy either way. But all this Round 13 stuff does is give player managers time to bump up a deal after circumstances change - for example, Manly have more cash to throw at DCE now that Foran has announced he's leaving. A player manager - certainly one as underhanded as Orr - is always going to try and milk that for all it's worth. It's a real shame that it's come to this.
ferret
Guest
Here's a tip (especially for those of you with short memories). It doesn't matter what system you introduce, stories about "who's" going "where" next season will continue to fill up newspapers and sites like this. The current situation was introduced by the previous NRL admin because people were screaming about constant "rumors" of player movement disrupting the current season. Plus in the previous situation you had players and managers complaining that they didn't have enough time to change cities / clubs over the summer break. So the NRL moved to remove the uncertainty and let player transfer happen any time in the season. So now everyone is complaining about the solution!! But is it really a problem? They only people "upset" about this seem to be those that frequent sites like this. Instead of sending off a post in "outrage" just wait a few weeks and see what happens. In the meantime enjoy the footy.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Damn, I heard the clubs were pretty good! Brochures these days... I don't think it would be too difficult to keep contract negotiations between a club and player manager secret throughout the year. If Gavin Orr flew to the GC to meet the Titans, would anybody really know? The reason why it so prevalent in the media now is because of the farce that it is. And the NRL media love nothing more than to highlight the inadequacies of the game. Push it to the end of the year and those stories die off pretty quickly. And you certainly wouldn't be seeing players visiting other clubs facilities, or fielding questions about where they were going to be in 2 seasons time. Of course the rumours would probably still linger but you wouldn't see or hear guys like Foran commenting on the strength of the Eels recruitment for 2016 when he should be 100% focussed on Manly in 2015.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I like the concept that teams have 2 weeks to respond after a contract is announced. Sort of like a cooling off period. Otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. We just have too many competitors to have it structured any other way preventing NRL clubs from keeping them in our game ie Union, ESL and whatever flavour of the month sport wants a headline.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
So in an ideal world the details would be kept secret till the end of the season. I wish. They really need to fix this one. I wouldn't move to Afghanistan EJ, the nightlife sucks.
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
the question remains, who started the DCE back-flip rumour? Was it his manager? There may be some truth to the connection between DCE & Nate Myles @ the titans- maybe it was the Orr bros causing a stir to push Titans management to action Myles' contract extension trigger
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Players move interstate within a week if they get a mid-season release and transfer to another club. After the Grand Final you have October, November, December, January, February to sign a deal, invest in a property, be it rental or bought, find schooling etc etc. I could move my family to a remote area of Afghanistan in that time. Leading into season 2015 we should not be talking about where players are going to be in season 2016. The players hate it, and so do the fans.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
As professionals the players should be able to make deals that are fore-dated by months and still play 100% for their current team. Everyone has a right to sort their future as far forward as they can. Especially if you intend moving interstate, lots of logistics to take care of with a young family to get settled for preseason at a new club. More time the better.
stifler
Guest
The rule should be that all player deals done take effect absolutely immediately - players then get up, move house and change teams the same day the new deal is done (go see American sports to see how this works - its great!)..... the current way the NRL does it is completely insane and fans should be forced to watch this train wreck anymore!!!!
Pot Stirrer
Guest
DCE has come out and said nothing has changed for him. How about the media come out and say what thier source is !! But of course they wont/cant becuase they made it all up as usual, The telecrap league writers sole purpose is attack the integrity of anything involved with RL.
baldie
Guest
People are mad at him because he or more likely his manager are playing with peoples emotions to make slightly more money. People hate being lied to and that is basically what the round 13 rule is. The player lies to the fans about his intentions to make a few extra grand a year.
Nordburg
Guest
What if the BS rumour about DCE reneging,started by someone who has no idea about the game,wasn't even bought up?Im guessing any comment or re-think about the Rd13 rule would not even be mentioned.Typical Rugby League,reactive -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Russell Johnson
Guest
Well done Louis for making a good fist of defending the essentially indefensible!