HoldenV8
Journey Man
Yes he very much wanted to stay, especially when he was getting $100,000 a season at the time, Manly were only prepared to offer him $50,000, probably knowing that he wouldn't stay for that amount and the Roosters offered $90,000, he retired two years later.
Vautin and Doug Daley did not get on at all and it was a case of which one goes, there was a real rot in the club at the time and we lost a lot of players that year.
I believe that's true about Vautin and Daley not getting along. It went back to when the board (led by Daley) wanted Bozo to make Crusher the team captain in 1987, though Bozo being Bozo did it his way. Then Fatty backed Dale Shearer in 1989 and that was probably the straw that broke the camels back as far as Daley was concerned. By that time of course, Bozo had left to become the Kangaroos coach and Fatty didn't have anyone to go into bat for him.
From what I understand, Fatty also puts a lot of the blame for his contract offer for 1990 being half of what it was on Graham Lowe. He thought Lowe as the new coach didn't want him there. Its one of the reasons why he used to basically take pot shots at Lowe in the media, especially when he was appointed Qld coach in 1991.