FORMER Manly player Anthony Watmough has unleashed an extraordinary tirade against current skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, accusing him of trying to hold the club up for money.

Watmough told the Hello Sport podcast the halfback told Watmough he wasn’t going to turn up to training unless he was given a better deal, and says Cherry-Evans “turned into a f***wit” after his first year in the NRL.

“I said to him ‘mate, you know what we’ve (the senior playing group) sacrificed to stay together, to be successful.

LIVE Stream every game of every round of the 2018 NRL Telstra Premiership on FOX SPORTS. SIGN UP NOW >

“Your time will come’ and he just looked me straight in the eye and went ‘nah, not turning up’. So I just went ‘f*** you’.”

Manly won two premierships in 2008 and 2011 and made Grand Finals in 2007 and 2013 in an era of dominance for the club.

Manly led by Watmough and Glenn and Brett Stewart sacrificed big contracts to keep a successful side together, but Cherry-Evans never bought into that culture after winning a premiership in 2011.

Glenn Stewart was reported to have been forced out of the club to free up more money to re-sign Daly Cherry-Evans.

Manly skipper Cherry-Evans has had a history of not fitting into the culture of teams, with the Maroons and Manly teams not accepting him at times throughout his career.

Earlier this season, Cherry-Evans got in a fight with Jackson Hastings at training and Hastings hasn’t been sighted in first grade since.

Watmough’s falling out with Cherry-Evans began in 2012 the year after the pair won a premiership together.

“He just signed a four-year deal and he didn’t turn up to training,” Watmough explained.

“He said his manager told him not to.

“His idiot manager signed him for five years on no money because nobody thought he was good.

“In the end Geoff Toovey succumbed to the board and he was put on $500,000 after being on $50,000.

“Toovey chose the board and one player over the rest of the players and that’s where he lost me.”

Watmough also opened up on his relationship with former coach Des Hasler.

“He burned a lot of bridges and certain players won’t speak to him again,” Watmough said.

“I haven’t spoken to him since he left.”

The former NSW and Kangaroos forward got to the point at Manly where some of the older players all wanted out of the club.

“Not many people know this but I was off, I was going to Melbourne,” Watmough said.

“For Glenn to get shown the f….ng door, it was a slap in the face for all of us.

“I paid $100,000 to get out of the place to be honest.”

Watmough also came to the defence of Jackson Hastings believing his is the latest in a long line of people to cop the blame, while Cherry-Evans remains untouched.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see he has probably p***ed one too manly people off in the game,” Watmough said.

“I think people are starting to see it for what it is.

“They thought we (senior players) were the issue and then we left. Then the next year Tooves (Geoff Toovey) was the issue, then they got rid of him. And then all of a sudden poor Jackson Hastings.

“I don’t really know the guy. I know people have different opinions of everyone but they, because Cherry-Evans didn’t like him, they f***ing bullied him into a corner which was pretty poor on the club’s behalf I think.

“Cherry-Evans was in the thick of it then. There’s only so much one person can be involved before people start to realise, ‘Maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree here.’”

Watmough was relieved to finally tell his side of the story and expose some of the lies that have been toold about the club over the years, since he left the club in 2014.

“People are going to hate me for coming out and saying this but people have to know at the end of the day what the real situation was,” Watmough said.

“I didn’t even want to speak about it but there comes a time when I feel that I had to.

“I didn’t even want to do any of these podcasts again until a mate asked me for your guys and I thought, ‘F*** it, I’m not going to hold onto it anymore.’

“I seriously hold onto that everyday and that’s the only thing that has stopped me from letting go of everything — because I haven’t told my side, the real side that people didn’t get to hear.

“They’ve been told many different things and read things that (aren’t true).

“I feel a weight being lifted off my chest I’m being honest. I’ve just been holding onto that.”

Get the ultimate NRL experience on your phone with the new FOX LEAGUE App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android!