We all know that the s**t really hit the fan when Manly didn't give Glen Steward a new contract. The senior players became upset, as he and his brother Brett Stewart have been a part of the successful club for so long.
Personally, I never payed much attention to him. I didn't used to watch many Manly games, unless they were against Parra. Once the issues came about, it was too late for me, as he was already injured. I know he's been great and had his moments. He's certainly experienced and no push over, at least from looking at his player stats.
Now, on Thursday I got a good chance to watch him play. I really kept my eyes on him. He seemed quite solid and I don't really remember any mistakes. So what I'm wondering is - did Manly make the right choice in letting him go? Saving that money by letting go of an aging player, past his prime? Is he really that good? Is it so much his skill that's the big deal, or the fact that he was part of that core senior playing group? How good is he for Souths - is he just an affordable, experienced and competent player for depth?
Either way, those senior players (Watmough, Stewart brothers, Matai, Lyon etc) couldn't all stay together forever, especially if Manly wants to move into the future.
Having said all that - I think they have other problems, such as Toovey for coach and signing Mason and Mateo as their new senior forwards (among other things)
Check out this blog (with a link to a news story) - which describes the Manly situation quite well.
http://www.1eyedeel.com/forum/topics/how-toovey-let-manly-slide-why-i-think-parra-will-land-foran
Replies
Hes a great player and has a real presence and a very good skillset for a forward, there is very few negatives to his game, its a great signing for souths, he disnt do much the other night but look back at the GF's he has played in, always in the top 5 on the park.
Thanks, I'll keep an eye on him this year. It feels like he's still getting used to the new team
If he was Parra's coach and did that we'd be knighting him.
The board were the ones who fucked over Glenn Stewart. Toovey obviously isn't as involved in contract talks as one would think, he was stumped on NRL360 when he heard that Manly had taken DCE's contract off the table, he wasn't too happy about it!
Considering he played on Thursday and you were watching him on Friday you are either a bloke with a hell of a lot of time on your hands or you were watching someone completely different.
As for Stewart he will go alright for Souths until he gets injured again and is out half the season. Older guys who start getting injured a bit tend to keep getting injured and take longer to get over them. I should know I am f*#king old!
hahaha... good point. I'm used to referring to the first game of the week as the 'Friday game'