RE: Choc 'forced' out of Manly - family gutted
I don't have any ill feeling toward Watmough, he was probably just under advice from his manager to take the 3 year deal over the 2 year deal in 2016. As I've said in a previous post, somewhere under some other Watmough thread (sorry Stevo, I couldn't be bothered looking for all the other ones to try and trace it down), I can't see where he'd earn $600k in another profession, for the extra year that Manly were apparently not prepared to offer. It may take him 6 years or more to earn similar money.
Watmough may well have wanted to leave due to his relationship with some of the management/directors at the club or there could be a myriad of other reasons of which none of us (or at least the vast majority) are aware.
I find it strange, as claimed on this site, that he wanted to 'backflip' on his decision. If it is true, it shows major naivety on his part, if all the stories about him refusing to talk to 2V or avoiding it as much as possible are true.
I am sure most on this site are either employees who have managers or are managers of staff in one way or the other. If an employee lambasts or demonstrates poor behaviour towards his/her manager and is then perceived to try and instill similar behaviour with other employees, then, unless the manager is really poor, there is only one potential outcome... 'You've resigned and we['ve already replaced you (even if it may not be completely correct).
I wish him the best of luck and respect the effort he has put on the field every time he has played for Manly, when he was absolutely busted but refused to leave the field because he thought it would the team down and even when he had the 'WhatNow?' moments.
We'll all forget what's happened in the last couple of months and in a couple of years we'll fondly remember some of the great 'Choc' moments when he was at Manly, just as we do with Ronnie Gibbs, Bobby Fulton, Dale Shearer et al, when they left for more $.
Good luck to him and maybe, if he really didn't want to leave, he should have sought better counsel than those he relied on.