It’s why they have brought the NRL and the Rugby League Players’ Association into the conversations.

Manly believe they have cause to breach Schuster over a series of performance-related issues and terminate his contract without pay,but they don’t want to be insensitive to the 22-year-old’s personal issues.

The Sea Eagles approached the NRL and explained they could go down the path of breaching him out of his deal,but did not believe that was the right way to deal with the matter.

It’s a similar predicament the Wests Tigers found themselves in with David Nofoaluma earlier in the year when they offered the veteran winger $300,000 to walk away from the final two years of his deal.

The Tigers believed they had grounds to terminate Nofoaluma’s contract after a series of breaches but instead offered him a settlement pay-out to avoid having to sack him given his services to the club over a long period and concerns over his wellbeing.

Nofoaluma,who is also managed by Tartak,was advised to accept the offer and left the club in January.

When Manly agreed to a three-year,$2.4 million extension of Schuster’s contract last year,they did so with the protection of a pre-season weight clause built into it,according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity due to confidentiality.

Schuster managed to reach a career-low 112 kilograms over the summer. His conditioning then slowly began to deteriorate after suffering chickenpox before Christmas. That was followed by a broken finger that required surgery and a calf injury.

Manly subsequently left him out of their trip to Las Vegas and Schuster has struggled to get himself into the shape,mindset and form to win his way back into the NRL side. Schuster has now been granted personal leave and isn’t expected back at Manly again.

The other issue Schuster had was the faith – or lack thereof – of his teammates,who began to question his commitment to the team.

The form of back-rower Ben Trbojevic also made it an easier decision for Manly to part ways with the highly talented but inconsistent Schuster.

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