{"id":497566,"date":"2026-03-31T19:51:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T19:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=497566"},"modified":"2026-03-31T21:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:23:12","slug":"former-manly-boss-tells-owners-to-quit-after-knee-jerk-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=497566","title":{"rendered":"Former Manly boss tells owners to quit after 'knee jerk reaction'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Manly<\/a> supremo Max Delmege has called for the current owners, the Penn family<\/a>, to step down to allow the Sea Eagles to start afresh and end the internal squabbles that have contributed to the club's current plight.<\/p>\n

Manly has gone through five coaches and eight chief executives in recent seasons, culminating in the sacking of Anthony Seibold<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Delmege saved the club when it was on the brink of insolvency in 2002 and was in charge when Manly won the 2008 grand final by a record 40-0 against Melbourne.<\/p>\n

OPINION:<\/strong> Another sacking and big roster calls Manly must make next\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Beloved Aussie brand makes Steve Smith $1.4m richer in one day<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gawn rejects claim Dees are filthy at Oliver over 250th snub<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But that triumph appears lightyears away, with Manly yet to win a game this season and in search of a new head coach for 2027.<\/p>\n

"I always put the fans first – I would often stand with them on the hill – and the fans are hurting," Delmege told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"I speak to a lot of people in the area and see all the comments on social media – everyone is disillusioned with the way the club is going.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"You need peace and harmony and everyone working together – then you will win games.<\/p>\n

"Manly have lost that.<\/p>\n

"You can't chop and change coaches and CEOs on a whim. You've got to stick by them. I think sacking Seibold after just three games of a new season was a knee jerk reaction from the owners to take the heat off themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Some people have egos that are too big – the club becomes a political football for them. The need to remember it's the people's game.<\/p>\n

"I think if they care about Manly, they should step aside and stop looking at the club as something they can get kudos or acclaim from.<\/p>\n

"The fans want change at the top – they aren't stupid – they realise the club is not being well run."<\/p>\n

MANLY'S STORM RAID WON'T BE SUCCESSFUL<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Still on Manly and the club's bid to snare highly-respected Storm general manager Frank Ponissi is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n

Ponissi and Craig Bellamy have built the Storm into an Australian sporting powerhouse over the past two decades and he would have been a good catch for Manly.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

He's actually a Manly boy, having grown up in the area and starting his football career there.<\/p>\n

But those close to Ponissi say there is no way he would leave the superb Storm set-up for a basket case like the Sea Eagles.<\/p>\n

Even though there's no place like home, Ponissi is well settled in Melbourne and nothing Manly do will entice him to leave.<\/p>\n

PNG AIMING FOR ORIGIN SIGNING\ufeff<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roosters and NSW State of Origin utility Connor Watson is shaping as one of the first targets of the new PNG Chiefs.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs now have a recruitment officer – former Bulldogs official Liam Ayoub – and he is putting together a hit list.<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

With his big match experience and ability to play several positions, Watson would be an ideal signing for the Chiefs for 2028.<\/p>\n

His contract with the Roosters expires at the end of 2027 – and even they would find it hard to match the cash-free contracts on offer in PNG.<\/p>\n

EELS OUTCAST COPS ANOTHER BLOW\ufeff<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Poor Ryan Matterson can't take a trick.<\/p>\n

Offside at Parramatta, struggling with concussion, it's been a forgettable year to date for the former representative forward.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

And things didn't get much better when Matto was minding his own business with the injured players group at Eels training last week.<\/p>\n

The tall back-rower was minding his own business when a booming kick hit him square on the head, having him seeing stars and possibly setting back his return by a few more weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Manly supremo Max Delmege has called for the current owners, the Penn family, to step down to allow the Sea Eagles to start afresh […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":497568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=497566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":497573,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497566\/revisions\/497573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/497568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=497566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=497566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=497566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}