Manly owner wants NRL inclusion round as boycotting players told to stay away from game

Manly boss Scott Penn wants to speak with the NRL about introducing an inclusion round next season and is confident all of his players would participate after a year of dialogue.

The Sea Eagles owner flew back into Sydney from the USA on Thursday, before meeting with the seven Manly players who stood down from the Sydney Roosters match – and who have subsequently been barred from attending Brookvale Oval on Thursday night over safety concerns.

Top of Penn’s priorities is to ensure the Sea Eagles are unified with all players back to face Parramatta next week and the finals still a reality. The Manly chair also issued a statement to the club’s fans, stating a review would be held into why all staff and players were not aware of the club’s jersey before it was released publicly.

But he make no apologies for the jersey, stressing Manly wanted it to promote inclusivity for all, be it with race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Manly owners will also donate $100,000 to the Gotcha4Life charity, with money from the game going to support the mental welfare of the LGBTQI community.

But also on Penn’s agenda is speaking to the NRL about next year’s calendar, and he is willing to take the criticism of recent days if it results in long-term change. ARLC chair Peter V’landys revealed this week he was open to the idea of a pride or inclusion round, stressing the decision was ultimately one for the Commission.

And Penn himself said he was fully behind the idea, hoping it was a positive to come out of a week of criticism and drama while also vowing to wear an inclusion jersey again in 2023.

“We will take some learnings out of this but the most important thing is we will be bigger and stronger next year,” Penn told AAP.