47MVEagle
Bencher
I think someone has already posted this but if we look at the old guard of players that Choc was part of here & what they went on to do post-DCE signing his current contract, I fail to see how DCE's contract was the cause of the team falling apart?
Kite - at the end of his career, I don't know the full details of him leaving but he didn't do much for his last season at Penrith.
Gift - Manly wanted to keep him but could only offer him $350k, the NRL said that was undervalued so we let him go & Souffs picked him up for $600k (I believe).
Choc - spat the dummy after Gift leaving & Manly only offering him a 1 year contract & arguably conned Parramatta into paying huge overs for him for 4 years. He played what, 17 games for them before breaking down with the knee injuries Manly knew were inevitable & hence why they only offered him a 1 year contract?
Foran - would it be fair to say he was leaned on by Choc to leave Manly to join him at Parramatta? Obviously he was offered huge money, had bad blood also due to Gift leaving & liked Brad Arthur, but from Choc's own words in his recent interview it sounds to me as though he could be quite standoverish when trying to influence younger players into doing what he wanted them to. Regardless, we've all seen what a trainwreck Foran's life turned out to be, both personal & on the field (injuries, suicide attempt, etc)
Lyon - saw out his contract & left without a fuss & never indicated he had a problem with the club while active nor since leaving. A class act.
Snake & Matai - at the end of their careers, one more injury away from retirement anyway, which ultimately saw them sit out season 2017 but we weren't afforded the same consideration Parramatta were with Choc's medical retirement so our cap was impacted by some $1.2m for that season.
So who is Choc to claim to speak on behalf of these guys in slagging DCE off for his contract negotiating after:
1. Choc himself blagged his way into a ridiculously huge contract that his body was never going to be able to deliver to at Parramatta;
2. The Penn's withdrew their $700k offer to chase Foran, which resulted in DCE signing for GC for significantly more;
3. Foran holding the club to ransom knowing they were desperate to keep him after losing DCE;
4. Choc leaning on Foran to influence him in signing with Parramatta;
5. Foran signing with Parramatta resulting in Manly becoming even more desperate in trying to lure DCE back.
I think DCE is just one of those people that some people just don't like - whether it be his manner, his appearance, their perception of his personality, or a combination of all of these things.
But people also know they can't use these as legitimate reasons for getting rid of him so they home in on the things they think can justify their demands - his onfield performance, his perceived treatment of the club when negotiating his contract, his apparent divisiveness - and make a much bigger fuss of them than is reasonable, when compared to things other players have done in the past, including backflipping on contracts (Inglis at Broncos, Tedesco at Canberra), playing hardball or conning clubs for unreasonable contracts (Foran at Manly, Choc at Parra) etc.
It's very obviously a personal issue for those who dislike him - Tallis is guilty of it, so too is Choc & now apparently Mason.
Kite - at the end of his career, I don't know the full details of him leaving but he didn't do much for his last season at Penrith.
Gift - Manly wanted to keep him but could only offer him $350k, the NRL said that was undervalued so we let him go & Souffs picked him up for $600k (I believe).
Choc - spat the dummy after Gift leaving & Manly only offering him a 1 year contract & arguably conned Parramatta into paying huge overs for him for 4 years. He played what, 17 games for them before breaking down with the knee injuries Manly knew were inevitable & hence why they only offered him a 1 year contract?
Foran - would it be fair to say he was leaned on by Choc to leave Manly to join him at Parramatta? Obviously he was offered huge money, had bad blood also due to Gift leaving & liked Brad Arthur, but from Choc's own words in his recent interview it sounds to me as though he could be quite standoverish when trying to influence younger players into doing what he wanted them to. Regardless, we've all seen what a trainwreck Foran's life turned out to be, both personal & on the field (injuries, suicide attempt, etc)
Lyon - saw out his contract & left without a fuss & never indicated he had a problem with the club while active nor since leaving. A class act.
Snake & Matai - at the end of their careers, one more injury away from retirement anyway, which ultimately saw them sit out season 2017 but we weren't afforded the same consideration Parramatta were with Choc's medical retirement so our cap was impacted by some $1.2m for that season.
So who is Choc to claim to speak on behalf of these guys in slagging DCE off for his contract negotiating after:
1. Choc himself blagged his way into a ridiculously huge contract that his body was never going to be able to deliver to at Parramatta;
2. The Penn's withdrew their $700k offer to chase Foran, which resulted in DCE signing for GC for significantly more;
3. Foran holding the club to ransom knowing they were desperate to keep him after losing DCE;
4. Choc leaning on Foran to influence him in signing with Parramatta;
5. Foran signing with Parramatta resulting in Manly becoming even more desperate in trying to lure DCE back.
I think DCE is just one of those people that some people just don't like - whether it be his manner, his appearance, their perception of his personality, or a combination of all of these things.
But people also know they can't use these as legitimate reasons for getting rid of him so they home in on the things they think can justify their demands - his onfield performance, his perceived treatment of the club when negotiating his contract, his apparent divisiveness - and make a much bigger fuss of them than is reasonable, when compared to things other players have done in the past, including backflipping on contracts (Inglis at Broncos, Tedesco at Canberra), playing hardball or conning clubs for unreasonable contracts (Foran at Manly, Choc at Parra) etc.
It's very obviously a personal issue for those who dislike him - Tallis is guilty of it, so too is Choc & now apparently Mason.