Is Mestrov really our Messiah?

[47MVEagle]

The part that doesn't add to up to me is why, if they knew DCE was leaving in December, they weren't on the front foot trying to find a replacement at that time.

Or is it just Turbo to 6 and that's it?

It makes me think the club are okay with DCE leaving at the end of 2025 because they have Walsh & Large (with Walsh specifically being mentored by DCE for the 2025 season), with an option to move Tom to 5/8th for however long in 2026 it might take for Walsh &/or Large to be ready for first grade.

Which in turn makes me think (the longer this goes on) that DCE is agitating for an early release i.e. wants to leave ASAP.

Which in turn indicates he has a big contract waiting for him elsewhere.

 

[Rocky]

How do you know they haven’t been?Some players,Fogarty for example,have clauses.Rumours like the linking of Fogarty to Manly, don’t come out a split second after the club have decided to make an approach.Fogarty has a clause relating to rd6,which is the time Mestrov claims they were giving DCE to make his decision public

How do you know that Manly and Mestrov haven't been asleep at the wheel either? That the Fogarty link/interest isn't just them saving face.

I'm in the Manly and Mestrov camp over DCE but the whole Fogarty thing seems weird to me.

If you believe the rumours, we are seemingly happy to throw 650k plus at Fogarty to decline his Raiders option - but aren't happy to pay DCE more than $750k when we would get supposedly a huge discount on the salary cap to retain him.

 

[Nordburg]

How do you know that Manly and Mestrov haven't been asleep at the wheel either? That the Fogarty link/interest isn't just them saving face.

I'm in the Manly and Mestrov camp over DCE but the whole Fogarty thing seems weird to me.

If you believe the rumours, we are seemingly happy to throw 650k plus at Fogarty to decline his Raiders option - but aren't happy to pay DCE more than $750k when we would get supposedly a huge discount on the salary cap to retain him.

From what I can find,every club this yr has $300K for “Veteran and Developed Player Allowance” which is for players that have been in the clubs top 30 for 8 yrs,of which Manly has at least 3 and maybe two others,depending on the technicalities of the rule.But as someone posted earlier,Manly would get that discount,but would have to spend the $300K out of their own pocket

 

[Peter C]

From what I can find,every club this yr has $300K for “Veteran and Developed Player Allowance” which is for players that have been in the clubs top 30 for 8 yrs,of which Manly has at least 3 and maybe two others,depending on the technicalities of the rule.But as someone posted earlier,Manly would get that discount,but would have to spend the $300K out of their own pocket

I think you only get that discount for one player only, irrerspective of how many qualify, that discount doesn't have to come off a certain players contracy, you'll find that the club has been using it to come off their total salary cap

 

[The Who]

It makes me think the club are okay with DCE leaving at the end of 2025 because they have Walsh & Large (with Walsh specifically being mentored by DCE for the 2025 season), with an option to move Tom to 5/8th for however long in 2026 it might take for Walsh &/or Large to be ready for first grade.

Which in turn makes me think (the longer this goes on) that DCE is agitating for an early release i.e. wants to leave ASAP.

Which in turn indicates he has a big contract waiting for him elsewhere.

To rely on Turbo to play -- let alone in the unfamiliar role of 5/8 -- is foolish.

 

[Peter C]

How do you know that Manly and Mestrov haven't been asleep at the wheel either? That the Fogarty link/interest isn't just them saving face.

I'm in the Manly and Mestrov camp over DCE but the whole Fogarty thing seems weird to me.

If you believe the rumours, we are seemingly happy to throw 650k plus at Fogarty to decline his Raiders option - but aren't happy to pay DCE more than $750k when we would get supposedly a huge discount on the salary cap to retain him.

That discount only applies for one player, irrespective whether it's Jake, DCE or Tom, the Club and probably the rest of the football world last year wasn't expecting DCE to play until 38, probably just this year and next, and I suppose the club has to continually rearrange the salary cap seeing we've extended Pasek, Hopoate and Haumole, and rightly so.
The way DCE is playing at the moment certainly warrants one million, however the club probably couldn't fit him in at that price over two years.
Having said that $750k is still good money when you subtract the tax difference, and lets not forget DCE was paid 1.2 million from 2015 to 2023, a $hitload in those days.
Paul Gallen in his final year was paid only what Cronulla could afford in their cap because they also didn't anticipate him playing that long, he could have gotten a lot more from Newcastle, but decided to stay.
DCE is like he always has been, sure he's played over 300 games for us, but will always put self interest first, unlike someone like Steve Menzies, everone was throwing ridiculous money at him but refused to go.

 

[Dion Johnson]

When though? Do you mean on 360 the other night? Or are we talking about negotiations last year?

From negotiations last year, from what I have read and listened to there was a remuneration amount discussed in November 2024.

 

[LeonardCohen]

That discount only applies for one player, irrespective whether it's Jake, DCE or Tom, the Club and probably the rest of the football world last year wasn't expecting DCE to play until 38, probably just this year and next, and I suppose the club has to continually rearrange the salary cap seeing we've extended Pasek, Hopoate and Haumole, and rightly so.
The way DCE is playing at the moment certainly warrants one million, however the club probably couldn't fit him in at that price over two years.
Having said that $750k is still good money when you subtract the tax difference, and lets not forget DCE was paid 1.2 million from 2015 to 2023, a $hitload in those days.
Paul Gallen in his final year was paid only what Cronulla could afford in their cap because they also didn't anticipate him playing that long, he could have gotten a lot more from Newcastle, but decided to stay.
DCE is like he always has been, sure he's played over 300 games for us, but will always put self interest first, unlike someone like Steve Menzies, everone was throwing ridiculous money at him but refused to go.

As you suggest, there's the very real possibility that the club never bargained that he'd play beyond this year. We have to remember the deal he is currently in was signed back in 2022. You can forgive the club for assuming he'd be well and truly slowing down by now and that IF he was willing to play on in 26', he'd be worth less than a million bucks. That his form hasn't tapered, has meant he is worth considerably more than the club probably set aside for him. Throw a club like the Chooks into the equation, who said goodbye to the likes of Manu, JWH, and Suaalii last year, and we've got a problem.

Is it really that disrespectful to only have a certain amount in the cap for a guy that'll be 37 come kick off next year? Is it really asking too much that DCE shave a few hundred thousand off his next deal, given the considerable money he's made from the club? He's set for life. He's earned more in 15 years than most of us will earn in a lifetime and is high profile enough to live off the game and his considerable investments for the rest of his life. Of course, maybe he is not motivated by money and wants out for another reason...I don't know. I have to say, whichever way I spin it, I'm struggling to find fault in the club.

 

[Mal Cochrane]

I think it's reasonable that Manly would not have thought he'd be going as strong at 37 years of age and be paying 1M, and would also need to balance and upgrade players meanwhile.

I'm ok with dce having a high opinion what he's worth , and going for it, just show some class while doing it.

So he has admitted he asked for a release, and that it was to go to Qld for family reasons. That's fine . That's important for family and their future. Will those family reasons still stand today, and he goes to qld at the end of this year, or does he sign for a sydney club because those family reasons were not that important after all or just a fib today to reduce backlash on his request for a release.

I don't know, time will tell.

 

[LeonardCohen]

So he has admitted he asked for a release, and that it was to go to Qld for family reasons.

I know the club said this but he admitted it? Where did you see this?

 

[Mal Cochrane]

His management apparently gave the reason for his release request and was reported on nrl 360 by Andrew webster tonight

 

[LeonardCohen]

Maybe Des is the dark horse in all this. DCE's current deal was signed when Hasler was still the coach at Manly. Maybe an opportunity to reconnect with Des on the Gold Coast and put the backflip behind him for good, is too compelling.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Maybe Des is the dark horse in all this. DCE's current deal was signed when Hasler was still the coach at Manly. Maybe an opportunity to reconnect with Des on the Gold Coast and put the backflip behind him for good, is too compelling.

May well be the case, although I still think the Roosters have [paper]bagged their man. But at this stage, who f***ing cares? He's leaving at the end of this season, but (at least for now) he's here for the rest of the season. He can put himself out to stud in 2026 for all I care, but for 2025, his aim should be to be win a premiership for the club he claims he loves and is proud to captain.

Far be it from me to use his own words against him, but according to Cherry, the whole reason he's gone about this the way he has is so the club can go in its own direction for 2026 and he can sort out his own future in the background. So if he'd just shut up about it, and everybody at the club would shut up about it, we can resume our normal programming (ie, a year of promise ultimately derailed by injury, infighting, and the lack of a proper dummy half).

 

[bob dylan]

The Roosters have form is grabbing old half backs.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

The Roosters have form is grabbing old half backs.

This is Cronk 2.0

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Thus is Cronk 2.0

If Delta Charlie-Echo joins the Cronksters, will Victor Charlie-Echo join the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Sydney’ as Terry Biviano 2.0?

Mrs ‘The Count’ is getting a little long in the tooth.

 

[Brookie1973]

Here’s a left field suggestion - rather than bemoan all the publicity, Penn should monetise it to our advantage by spinning us off as a Manly sitcom and pitch it to the streaming services. We certainly have a great cast of characters and the storyline’s write themselves.

 

[Frogz]

His management apparently gave the reason for his release request and was reported on nrl 360 by Andrew webster tonight

Funny that both Webster and Crawley were bagging Manly all night (again), then they all said no one knows the truth, both parties are lying. What a circus NRL360 & Fox Sports have turned this into. Obviously got their nose out of joint at the Weirdo scoop. Webster is terrible on this show.

 

[eaglebuzz]

I'm so sick of the media trying to spin this up to get the fans to turn on Mestrov, I honestly think not re-signing DCE was the right call, given the money he would have wanted.

The only error they made was making a real time counter offer in the media, that was foolish. But who cares...

Just move on and leave it be.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Here’s a left field suggestion - rather than bemoan all the publicity, Penn should monetise it to our advantage by spinning us off as a Manly sitcom and pitch it to the streaming services. We certainly have a great cast of characters and the storyline’s write themselves.

I have a prospective title:

The Real Players of Manly-Warringah.

Hosted by Dean Ritchie.