Manly Sea Eagles must ‘unite club, players and supporters’ after pride jersey player boycott

It is the first time a team in the NRL competition has worn a pride jersey

Manly Sea Eagles want to “unite club, players and supporters”, says their chairman, after seven players boycotted a key NRL match over the team’s decision to wear a pride jersey.

Both they and the club were criticised for their handling of the situation.

“I stand with the club’s management and the inspiration for why we wanted to do this,” chairman Scott Penn said.

The Sea Eagles will play Sydney at 10:50 BST on Thursday, with a portion of the match proceeds being donated to “make a difference to the mental health of members of the LGBTQ+ community”.

The club owners will also donate A$100,000 (£57,000) to Gotcha4Life – an Australian not-for-profit that aims to improve mental fitness in the country.

“While the intention of why we wanted to do this was authentic – and still is – we must learn from how the message was lost in translation through the process of implementation,” Penn said.

“We have learned lessons from this and we hope others may learn lessons from this also, but we will make no apologies for why we were motivated to do it.

“But I accept that Manly Warringah Sea Eagles now has the job to unite its club, players, supporters and become the leader of inclusiveness that we whole-heartedly desire to be.”

The Sea Eagles will become the first NRL team to wear a kit that promotes LGBT inclusivity in the sport.

The seven players were named as Josh Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schuster, Haumole Olakau’atu, Tolu Koula and Toafofoa Sipley.

They have reportedly been told to stay away from the ground in New South Wales.

“For the safety and wellbeing of the players, the club has decided that it’s best that they don’t attend the game,” Manly interim chief executive Gary Wolman told The Australian newspaper.