Manly Sea Eagles have ran into chaos ahead of their game against the Sydney Roosters on Thursday after seven players withdrew in protest over the club's new kit.
On Monday, the eight-time NRL Premiership winners unveiled their jerseys, with complete with rainbow colours, to "celebrate inclusiveness." But just hours later, the launch, under the banner of 'Everyone in League', was the subject of an explosive saga as a number of stars made a stance.
Manly lie ninth in the table ahead of Round 19 this week, level on points with the eighth-placed Roosters. And now coach Des Hasler must contemplate hosting their Sydney counterparts with a severely weakened squad.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Josh Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schuster, Haumole Olakau’atu, Tolutau Koula and Toafofoa Sipley have all withdrawn over the kit. The players are refusing to wear it on religious grounds.
Furthermore, players seemingly weren't consulted over the change of strip, with Hasler supportive of those refusing to play. On Tuesday, last season's preliminary finalists will hold an emergency meeting to try and resolve the situation.
No other side in the history of the NRL has worn a pride jersey and on the official Manly website, players Kieran Foran, Sean Keppie and Reuben Garrick can still be seen unveiling the new tops. The club's interim chief executive, Gary Wolman, said he was proud of the message being sent to the community.
"The Sea Eagles have such a rich and diverse history in rugby league and in the community," he said. "To be able to bring this concept to life with Dynasty sport is a fantastic achievement and we are pleased to be able to share such an important message that means so much to many people in the community."
Last Friday, Manly were beaten 20-8 by the St George Illawarra Dragons. They wore their traditional white and maroon jerseys for that clash, but NRL bosses have dismissed the notion of the seven players in question wearing different tops to their teammate this week.
In 1995, Manly forward Ian Roberts became the first rugby league player to officially come out as gay. He's backed the new initiative, saying: "LGBTIQA people have always been a part of sport but haven’t always been allowed the visibility. I have been trying to get the NRL to have a pride round for the past three years and it still hasn’t got the traction it deserves."
