would it have been better that string the club along for the next 4 months all the while knowing that he was planning to test the market. because realistically that was the alternative.
and yes i have no doubt that his manager would know what other NRL clubs have "claimed" they will offer him, but there is a good chance those clubs are telling them that hoping we raise our offer and **** our salary cap ... that tactic is much riskier if those same clubs need to put in concrete offers in front of Payne (because if he takes offers from clubs using that tactic, they'd **** their own cap)
and finally, it gives Payne piece of mind knowing he's gotten a fair offer from us. he's pretty much spent his NRL and pre-NRL careers with just the information of what we value him for, he's never gone to market before. once he see's that the only clubs likely to offer him more than the $1 million - $1.1 million that we are are the likes of the Tigpies and Bulldogs ... we'll get back a settled Payne Haas, which only spells danger for the competition.
and again, if we have issues with Payne testing the market, then we should have issues with Tino do the same thing and strike him from our list. we should also probably take issues with the way the club forced out Lodge and TPJ. sport is a multi-million dollar business these days. and anyone of us if we were in Payne's shoes would have our manager doing the exact same thing (regardless of what they say on here or how much they love the club)