Manly Sea Eagles torn by distrust between players, front office and a faction-riven board
THE moment the Sea Eagles almost let Kieran Foran slip through their fingers came a few weeks ago when chief operating officer David Perry called him into his office.
Perry probed his premiership-winning five-eighth about whether he was sticking with the Sea Eagles or going to the Bulldogs.
Until that point, Foran had given the strongest indication to this teammates he would be staying at Brookvale. When Perry approached him directly, it annoyed Foran so much that he started to think very seriously about following former coach Des Hasler all the way to Belmore.
As it stands - on the eve of tonight's mother of all grudge matches between Manly and Canterbury at ANZ Stadium - Foran appears likely to stay.
Bulldog: Foran to stay at Manly after spurning big offer from Dogs.
He hasn't done a deal, or agreed to terms as some were speculating yesterday - just as it was incorrectly speculated last week that he'd done the deed with the Bulldogs.Yet the most likely outcome is that Foran will announce an extension with the Sea Eagles, possibly as early as next week, although the Kiwi representative has been flip-flopping between the two clubs.
Perry angrily denied he had pressured Foran into signing when contacted last night. He then instigated a witch-hunt, fingering others as the source of the story.
It is that type of administration that Foran and other players at the Sea Eagles are concerned about.
Forget about the blue they are about to have with the Bulldogs tonight.
Manly remains a club at war with itself.
Blog with Buzz: Is Manly a club at war with itself? Comment below and join Phil from 12:30pm Friday to have your say.
Not with coach Geoff Toovey, who was spirited into the role to replace Hasler just five days after Manly had won last year's grand final.
Toovey remains popular with the players, not least the all-powerful senior player group who are appreciating a new direction away from the paternal-like figure of Hasler. They see him as a long-term coach.
Yet there remains lingering distrust between the players and the front office and a faction-riven board.
For starters, many of them cannot believe the popular Foran - who has a clause in his contract allowing him to walk with Hasler no longer there - wasn't made a retention priority.
While halfback Daly Cherry-Evans is highly regarded, some players believe he should establish himself before asking for the big bucks his manager Gavin Orr had demanded earlier this season.
When Orr raised the possibility of an early release, asking for more money because of the paltry deal he had previously done for Cherry-Evans, Perry and the Manly board blinked.
Actually, they blinked big-time. Within days, as a media tempest stirred, a contract extension was stitched up and trumpeted.
A month ago, in an in-depth interview with The Daily Telegraph, Toovey was asked if he was prepared to coach a side about to be depleted by the pressures of the salary cap.
"Ah, no," he said. "You never are. It's a reality the players have a short period of time to play and they want to be rewarded fairly."
Foran is no fool. His father Greg was the second in charge at Woolworths. He might want to be rewarded fairly, but the word is he would prefer to be treated with respect.
Hasler's exit was always going to leave a void. He had managed contracts and juggled the cap and coached the side and served as the great divide between the players and the front office.
Either way, the Foran dilemma provides intriguing subtext to tonight's fixture, which might will help the rugged five-eighth decide where he belongs, regardless of the people above him.
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HERE WE AGO AGAIN .........
I wonder how long this clown had this story primed and ready to go ?
Until it was time for another bash session of course....
