SENIOR Manly players have reportedly thrown their support behind exiled Jackson Hastings as the turmoil embroiling the club grows hotter.

The decision to banish Hastings to reserve grade after reported bust-ups with Daly Cherry-Evans, Trent Barrett and a player revolt has taken a serious turn with conflicting versions of events coming to light.

Channel Nine is reporting players including Marty Taupau, Joel Thompson, and Jorge Taufua have sent messages of support to the younger playmaker.

Addin Fonua-Blake also said publicly on Thursday he remains friends with Hastings and would not have an issue playing alongside him.

Round 20

It has emerged that players visited The Board Room strip club in Gladstone after Manly’s 32-20 loss to the Titans before an altercation between Cherry-Evans and Hastings.

Channel Nine reports following a verbal argument, the team captain went to Hastings’ hotel room and pushed or punched Hastings in the face, possibly with an open hand.

That incident came just a week before Manly’s second big loss on the trot -- an embarrassing 38-12 defeat at home to Wests Tigers.

NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent has revealed that players are now denying they’re unwilling to play with Hastings, who has reportedly had two altercations with Cherry-Evans and walked off the training paddock after a heated confrontation with Barrett in pre-season.

Indeed, it appears the Sea Eagles face a crisis that stretches beyond the club’s public handling of the Hastings saga.

“Players are going on the record (with the Rugby League Players’ Association) saying they are willing to play and willing to train alongside him (Hastings),” Kent said.

“Jackson Hastings has texts from team-mates saying I’m prepared to do this (help him).

“As to the actual nature of the fight and what it was over, there’s an alternative version coming out there.”

Hastings and Cherry-Evans were reportedly involved in a fight at the team hotel in Gladstone after several players returned from the strip club.

“What’s interesting is Shaun Lane was Jackson Hastings’ roommate in Gladstone and his version to the Sea Eagles, in their own internal inquiry, supports Jackson Hastings’ version,” Kent said.

“So that’s causing some angst and quite rightfully so.”

Kent added that Barrett’s decision to banish Hastings to reserve grade for the rest of the season may actually contravene the terms of Hastings’ contract.

“It’s actually in the contract that you need to be considered on your merit for first grade,” Kent said.

“That’s an issue too that could also get uglier as we go down this road.”

It comes as Hastings vowed not to give up on playing again for Manly in 2018.

“I’m fully committed to doing whatever it takes to get back into that first grade team,”

Hastings told Fairfax Media, answering “one hundred per cent” when asked whether he could work with Cherry-Evans.

The more pressing issue is whether the Manly No.7 is willing to work with Hastings, Barrett suggesting that ‘‘if it wasn’t Cherry, it probably was going to be someone else. It just happened to be our highest-profile player”.

A star schoolboy coming through the ranks at St George Illawarra, Hastings also had issues while at the Roosters, where he made his first grade debut in 2014 and played 34 games across three seasons.

Conceding that there had been issues around Hastings during his time at the club, Roosters coach Trent Robinson defended the livewire utility, saying that he just needed to work on his behaviour in a team environment.

“Jackson is not a bad kid, he’s just trying to work it out like everyone else,’’ Robinson said.

‘‘He obviously had some issues here at different times. Sometimes it’s easier to forgive someone when they commit a crime, say sorry and then they come back.

“Jackson is not a bad guy, he’s not doing anything wrong, he just needs to work on the team environment.

“He’s not going to misbehave, he never has, so for us to go out there and treat him that way is bad.”

South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold joins host Nathan Ryan, and Ben Ikin and Emma Lawrence on this week’s Market Watch podcast.

You can also subscribe via iTunes or for Android users, listen on the iPP Podcast Player app.