According to Radio 2GB presenter Ray Hadley, a Manly board member was under the influence of alcohol at last night’s crucial meeting; where the agenda was to work through Brett Stewart’s playing future and potentially banning alcohol in the clubs playing ranks.
The 5 hour meeting last night to decide if Stewart should be suspended until the court results was seen as highly important to the club, along with the possibility of banning alcohol into the future.
According to 2GB’s Ray Hadley; apparently one board member was “greatly affected by alcohol†at this board meeting.
“I’ve now spoken to two people who have confirmed to me that a Manly board member at the meeting last night was greatly affected by alcohol,†Hadley confirmed earlier today on his popular morning radio program.
According to Hadley, this board member was slurring words and visibly under the influence of alcohol at the meeting.
This adds more fuel to the fire over at Manly, how will they deal with this? Surely after looking at the players and their situation, the board needs to deal with its own problems first.
Some say if you have problems at the top, they will filter down to the players – and even prior to this boardroom bungle, the fight between Max Delmege and Scott Penn probably set the scene for the problems at the season launch. While Delmege and Penn were friendly towards each other, it was reported that the likes of Peter Peters and other staff who generally act as ‘minders’ to the players – left the launch early to avoid any bad blood with their warring bosses. Had these Manly officials remained at the launch, the chances of excessive drinking or over doing it were much less.
Manly officials are currently in discussions with NRL boss David Gallop this morning (Wed 11 March 2009) to confirm Stewart’s playing future.