Clubs caught off guard by glitch over Taupau deal
THE day began with a UK lawyer accidentally emailing Marty Taupau’s confidential contract with the Manly Sea Eagles to the wrong person.
Instead of going to Sea Eagles chief executive Joe Kelly, it went from a solicitor’s office in Hull in the north of England to another Joe Kelly Gmail account in Canada by mistake and quickly found its way on to social media.
It forced Manly into making an announcement before they actually wanted to that the blockbusting Wests Tigers forward had signed a four-year contract to start at Brookvale next year.
It also caught Wests Tigers off guard because their officials hadn’t yet broken the news of his release to members.
Wests Tigers fans took to social media to express their disappointment.
Coach Jason Taylor said he made the decision to take pressure off the club’s salary cap.
“We made Marty an offer earlier in the year for 2017 ... he knocked it back and he’s since fielded some really good offers.
“... it became a situation where we could put ourselves in a better position with the salary cap if we make a tough decision and let him go.
“We could have kept Marty for one more year but we risk losing some of our best young forwards.”
Taupau explained from the New Zealand team camp in the UK why he chose to jump ship.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for me to play in a strong team alongside some of the game’s biggest names in Jamie Lyon, Brett Stewart, Daly Cherry-Evans, Peta Hiku and Steve Matai,’’ Taupau said.
“The Sea Eagles recruited well for next season and to have the opportunity to play with Australian and Queensland prop Nate Myles, and fellow Kiwi international Lewis Brown, was an added bonus.
“It is a fresh beginning at the Sea Eagles under new coach Trent Barrett and I’m really looking forward to playing under him.”