Manly chief executive Joe Kelly remains confident Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran will remain with the Sea Eagles but admits the club may not be able to compete with huge offers tabled by rival teams.
Cherry-Evans and Foran are the two biggest names in the NRL off-contract at the end of this season and Kelly believes he’s structured offers that are good enough to entice the star halves to stay.
However, he concedes the reported $2.4 million, three-year offer tabled by Cronulla to Cherry-Evans may be out of the Sea Eagles’ reach and won’t threaten the club’s future by breaking the bank to keep the premiership-winning halves combination.
“We’re really hopeful they’ll stay, but ultimately you can’t begrudge players looking around and testing the market,” Kelly told AAP on Tuesday.
“We think what we’ve got at Manly is desirable to both players and what we’ve offered them is as far as we can stretch within our budget.
“We think it’s a very commendable offer and with all the good players and strong culture we have at Manly we think that will also work in our favour.
“I’ve always been working to round one as when we want to conclude the negotiations and I’m hopeful that we’ll have a resolution by then.”
Foran and his camp have kept a very low profile in regard to thrashing out his future with Parramatta and Canterbury both conducting low-key talks with the Kiwi international.
But Cherry-Evans has been far more public in his dealings with other clubs, having been photographed on the Gold Coast last week looking at properties after discussions with the Titans.
That deal could be dead in the water following the NRL’s takeover of the beleaguered club on Tuesday, with Cronulla now appearing to be in the box seat to secure his signature.
It’s believed the Sea Eagles squad were less then enamoured with Cherry-Evans’ very public meeting with Cronulla at Sharkies Leagues Club on Monday with a TV crew on hand to film his arrival alongside manager Gavin Orr.
Kelly said he was unaware of any major gripes from the players but admitted he was surprised to see the footage.
“Players are testing the market all the time, and some choose to do it in different ways. It’s something we have to deal with,” the former South Sydney CFO said.
“It’s a challenge that they come off contract at the same time, but I’ve spent a lot of time making sure we are competitive without putting our long-term future in jeopardy.
“I think the players will view the offers as very good ones and hopefully they will re-sign.”
If Cherry-Evans and Foran do decide to end their association with Manly it would leave a huge hole to fill and Kelly said potential replacements have already been discussed.
“You have to formalise your plan of action and like any business you have to think of the long-term scenarios,” he said.
“We’re optimistic they’ll stay. But we’re realistic at the same time about the likelihood of retaining both.
“If we don’t keep them then we have plans in place for alternative recruitment.”
