Sea Eagles young gun Josh Schuster’s discipline has reportedly angered Manly officials and the five-eighth could see his time at the Brookvale club come to an end.
The 21-year-old is reportedly earning $800,000 per-season but has only featured three times so far in 2023 due to issues with his fitness and injury.
Schuster was also involved in a training fight with NSW Cup player Dean Matterson last week which head coach Anthony Seibold labelled a “non-event”.
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NRL360 co-host Paul Kent believes Sea Eagles bosses are attempting to show Schuster the door with issues arising surrounding his ability to deliver on the field.
Skipper Daly Cherry-Evans also sent his young halves partner a big message stating he is “at a crossroads” and stating without sacrifice “you just don’t last long”.
“They are trying to shift him out of the club… I do think they are,” Kent said on NRL360 on Monday night.
“I think there’s a definite move there, he’s not giving the value they are investing in him, so lets send him away.
“The discipline is not there, Daly Cherry-Evans came as close as he could last week to say it without actually articulating it in those words.
“But he wanted to give him a little bit of a rocket to say ‘time to start acting like a professional’.”
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“There is reason to shift him out of the club because he is soaking up $800,000 of Anthony Seibold’s salary cap,” The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield added.
“If I was Manly I’d be giving him a little shove too.”
Rothfield also questioned how Schuster has been unable to deliver consistent performances after he opted out of travelling to England with Samoa.
“He had a four-month full off-season, he stood (himself) down from the World Cup and that’s when he should have got himself into shape, and he did,” Rothfield said.
“But he’s lost his fitness again and Manly cannot have an $800,000 player they can’t pick each week.”
NRL360 host Braith Anasta also questioned why the Sea Eagles forced Kieran Foran to leave the club for a player that hasn’t lived up to his salary.
While it remains to be seen if Schuster is the club’s long-term halves option, Anasta also called the playmaker’s discipline into question.
“Do you want a player who isn’t willing to go on a diet to get himself in peak physical condition on $800,000 per-year when Kieran Foran had to leave the club so that he could play five-eighth?” Anasta asked.
“He’s had a couple of niggling injuries too which have held him back,” The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read replied.
“Full of excuses… I can’t cop that for a second, Ready,” Anasta said.
“I am not making excuses for him, you said why has he gone backwards since the start of the season, I said he’s had a couple of injuries,” Read said.
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“But he shouldn’t be in the condition he’s in and he shouldn’t be playing the way he is on $800,000-a-year.
“If Manly move him on I can understand why, but give him a chance.”
Meanwhile, it emerged Former Manly Pathways Manager Kristie Fulton blasted Schuster on social media on Monday and Kent believes “she’s not wrong”.
Fulton said the rising star “needs to grow up” and also called for him to stop making excuses.
“She has a pretty good understanding of what he is doing, she’s not wrong in what she says,” Kent said.
“Why have Manly allowed him to get to this stage?”
“They need to shove him out the door, let him go find another club, let him get hungry again for the $800,000-a-year,” Rothfield added.
