Honour the loser in Cherry-Evans backflip

Daly Cherry-Evans. Photo / Getty Images

Daly Cherry-Evans has lost my respect for his backflip on the Titans.

Yes, he's done nothing wrong in terms of the rules — he had until the end of round 13 to change his mind on joining the Titans from Manly — but it just shows the rules are flawed.

I admit I'm old-school but a contract should be something that is honoured otherwise, what value is a contract?

I get the sense there's a lot more to this story than we have been told.

It can't be about money, because the Titans deal would have been similar to what Manly offered. The Titans deal was for four years and I understand the Manly contract is also for four years with an option for a further four. If he had played well for Gold Coast, he would have earned another contract.

And it can't be about family, which is often trotted out as an excuse, because Cherry-Evans and his partner are from Queensland.

I wonder if Bob Fulton played a hand in this. The former Manly and Australia coach is very influential — he was brought on as a mentor for present Sea Eagles coach geoff Toovey — and he's still an Australian selector.

The NRL, who own the Titans at the moment, must have been aware of what was unfolding. For them to come out with new regulations about players having 10 days to change their minds on a contract, is not something you come up with in five minutes.

This is an improvement but, again, contracts should be honoured unless there are genuine extenuating circumstances. When you sign the paper and shake someone's hand, that's your bond.

Like any contract, you think about the consequences before you sign andif rugby league players don't consider everything, they have managers to advise them.

It's not about loyalty because he doesn't have to be loyal to the Titans, having never played for them. It's about honour.

The biggest losers in all of this are the Titans and they have every reason to be filthy.

They have lost two halfbacks now — Cherry-Evans and Aidan Sezer who signed with the Raiders after learning of Cherry-Evans' impending arrival — as well as Nate Myles, who is heading to Manly next season. They might have been able to offer Myles more money than they did — of course, he has until Monday night (the end of round 13) to change his mind.

Plenty of players have broken contracts, and more will do it in the future, but Cherry-Evans should expect a backlash from fans. And rightly so.

He's opened himself up for criticism and it's somewhat appropriate he might not look forward to his first visit to the Gold Coast.