Hello Silvertails, back in Aus and have been finally lured back by the drama after an off-season hiatus
🙂
This whole situation is quite odd to be blunt, and In my view there are 3 dynamics at play here:
(1) The Club defence angle:
- Mestrov needs to defend the club's position in all this, thats his job
- The club's decision making in light of the accusations of 'lowballing' and mismanagement of negotiations.
- Being accused by the Murdoch press of being 'Filthy' at DCE about the announcement and countering that by trying to dilute this narrative with 'we were always in the know', IE in control
- Needing to avoid the irony of screwing up yet again after the high-profile 'backflip' on the Titans, where ultimately Manly paid a premium to keep DCE long-term, after fumbling the initial negotations and favouring a Foran-led outcome.
Even though that call on a long-term DCE contract arguably paid off, it wasn't by design, rather sheer dumb luck that DCE proved to be so durable, and easily met the Minimum Viable Product of a marquee signing that benefited from the reality of inflation of contractual value. He was far more convincing as a long-term signing than virtually every other player at other clubs on similar arrangements (eg Taumalolo, Ponga, Hunt - who had injury/form challenges over their contract periods)
(2) DCE Legacy angle
- DCE is defending his reputation and right to choose his own path. He is trying to avoid a 'Mercenary' brand to his currently wholesome legacy
- However his reasoning lacks a rational justification. He could have made his decisions under the umbrella of the Manly Club, and ruled out picketing other clubs to make a point of his value.
- He obviously is not interested in a post-game career in coaching with Manly after the way he has handled this
- It's his last year at the Manly club he says. He is leaving the club so he can consider his future - without any pressure. Yet Manly insist the lack of an offer was an agreed upon point.
- His reasons for wanting out of the club to embrace the freedom to 'consider his options' are absolute bollocks. If the club werr not putting any pressure on him to make a decision and not 'withholding a contract', rather waiting on his direction for whether he would play on, then that is understandable - not many players would be eligible for a contract of significant value at his age. Even the NRL valued his benchmark contract at $400k.
- Manly insist they would have presented a contract in the scenario a competitive offer was forthcoming, else they would have waited his decision, assessed his value/form and reacted accordingly. From a bsuiness standpoint it's plausiable.
- DCE is articulate in the way a politician is articulate - he has the ability to sound rational even when he is sprouting bull****. Perhaps he should consider a political career.
DCE is good, but he's not that good. And the Manly Club is either sincere, or mealy-mouthed and gaslighting DCE. Depends who you choose to believe. While DCE sounds professional and expresses himself in a way that is superior to most NRL players and even NRL Media, his logic in this matter has serious flaws though - I don't buy that he needed to extricate hinself from the club overall to make this decision. It doesn't impact his market value, and gives him a security blanket to take his time. So either the Manly Club was pressuring him to make a decision, or he has used that as an excuse to justify bailing on being a 1-player club legend for reasons we don't fully undertand. (but Cooper Cronk might...)
(3) Media is trying to cash in
As this absolutely shi*ts on the normal 'coach under pressure after 3-rounds' crap they have to spin out of necessity due to lack of material.
Fox will milk this like the proverbial cow. Ryles/Payton/Woolfe must be thanking their lucky stars for DCE about now, deflecting heat on their winless starts to the season.
The headlines run by Newcorp should be treated as they deserve - utter contempt. The Manly Club substantially weakened their credibility by pitching a 2-yr offer on NRL-360 though. That was a bad move.
If Manly were - as they claim - on top of the negotiations with their captain then this shouldn't have been necessary. DCE himself claimed he had spoken to the club as far back as December and made up his mind on not being at Manly beyond 2025. The 2-yr offer - regardless of Mestrov's justification - looks desperate and impulsive. Burns the credibility that Manly are in control of this, and hands DCE to power to refuse - which he did - to a public forum. Whoever made that call at Manly Clubland? That was simply....Bad. It might actually be the most telling play in this saga actually.
The outcome is that either DCE was not clear in his intentions to the club - which reflects poorly on him - or that the club were not clear in their intentions to put down an offer of substance. This reflects poorly on DCE.
Neither party can come out of this clean. If DCE decides to renege on his position and re-sign with Manly now, after what he has said on Fox, he will look like an opportunist. If Manly offer him a contract value well in excess of the NRL evaluation of $400k, they will look captive and weak in negotiation. It hurts all involved.
The most logical explanation is that DCE has already signed with another club, but is not yet ready to reveal it. This undermines my view of DCE as an intellgient operator - he will be a club legend if he sticks it out at Manly until retirement. Chasing 1-2 more seasons at $750k-$1mil max may give him a decent sugar hit, but beyond that he has limited his legacy. Its a weird move - unless he has a succession plan already in place with another club - eg Cronk and Rooters.
It will not surprise me to find out DCE is going to play 1-2 seasons at the Rooters, replacing Townsend at the end of 2025, partnering and mentoring Walker, and giving the Rooters an artificial boost to their credentials during an acknowledged 'rebuilding' phase. And in return, Uncle Nick's brown paper bag has a nice retirement plan mapped out for him in a way that the Manly Club never defined.
If that ends up being the case, then that is on the Club, not DCE. Let's see what his next move is. And in the meantime, let’s hope it doesn't de-rail a promising season.
