Scorpio
Armchair Expert
Despite his age people still compare him to Cleary. Also, one of the few origin level players we have. The fact that Manly haven't built a decent forward pack for him is a shame.
Each club has to manage their salary cap, but when you have a halfback occupying 16% of a 30-man salary cap for 8 years, then the club really has to rely on outstanding rookies and bargain buys to fill the gaps across the roster... and if they are good then those players won't remain at bargain prices for very long, so we'd then have to look for others. It is a strategy that hasn't worked, unfortunately.
I would prefer we don't break the bank to keep him if he really wants to go to market now.