Manly Sea Eagles grant immediate release to Josh Schuster

The Manly Sea Eagles have granted an immediate release to a struggling star, only months after they extended his contract.

Manly are parting ways with Schuster. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Josh Schuster’s time in Manly is set to come to an end with the Sea Eagles granting the back-rower an immediate release.

Schuster is playing reserve grade on a whopping $800,000 per season after he extended his contract for three years only last season.

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The club’s decision to extend the 22-year-old until the end of 2027 has so far proved to be a costly one.

Coach Anthony Seibold confirmed Schuster was free to leave at the end of the season.

“We have given him permission to find another club,” Seibold said.

Josh Schuster has been stuck in reserve grade at Manly. Credit: NRL Images.

Schuster has failed crack first grade this season with backrowers Ben Trbojevic and Haumole Olakau’atu enjoying stellar starts to the season.

Trbojevic has been named in the centres this week as a replacement for Reuben Garrick (concussion) but Corey Waddell was picked to replace him and Schuster wasn’t even included on the extended bench.

Schuster spoke last year during his breakout season that he has a long way to go to prove his worth in the game.

“I’ve always believed in myself since day one. I always believed that one day I would be the best player in the game,” Schuster said last May.

“I’ve still got a long way (to go) in saying that, I’ve still got a lot of learning to do.”

Schuster will start looking for a new home. NRL Imagery

Schuster suffered a string of off-season setbacks that saw him miss out on the club’s historic opening to the season in Las Vegas.

He suffered a bout of chickenpox, a finger injury and picked up a calf complaint during a training session.

News of his calf complaint led to revelations that the Samoan international had been sidelined for the past two months, but coach Anthony Seibold said that was fake news.

“I’m not sure where the narrative around him not having trained for eight weeks came from, but that’s not true. He’s been training the whole time,” he said.

“He did pull up sore with a calf injury on Monday, but he’s been able to do all off-field conditioning.

“We’ve all been 22 and it’s a challenging period of life where you still don’t know yourself too well.

“He’s been in the spotlight for a couple of years now and it is hard for him.

“We’ll just take our time with him.”

Originally published as Manly Sea Eagles grant immediate release to Josh Schuster