Sea Eagles chairman Scott Penn boasted he would have both players re-signed before Christmas, but the club now requires a total rebuild of the squad following the departures of Glenn Stewart, Anthony Watmough, Foran and Cherry-Evans.

The Queensland halfback had agreed to terms last year but a change of management - the result of the Penn family buying out Quantum's stake in the club - torpedoed the move. The revised offer to Cherry-Evans from the current powerbrokers was a whopping $800,000 less than what was previously offered. The decision to pull Cherry-Evans' contract offer from the table effectively killed off any chance of him staying.The situation has resulted in the new regime losing its most precious assets and falling out with club legend Geoff Toovey within months of taking control.

"The whole situation has been totally mismanaged," said Quantum boss Phil Sidney.

"The result is it will now be very tough times for the club going forward. The likelihood is we would have signed both halves. We had virtually come to terms with Daly Cherry-Evans. Our negotiations with him went smoothly and he and his manager were looking to sign on with the club. I've got no doubt that would have occurred.

"In terms of Kieran, we were speaking to him about getting the things in place he felt he needed to ensure he could continue to develop his game. The fact Daly left was probably a factor for Kieran as well. It's not just about the money, it's also about how you treat people. Someone like Kieran will have a totally different thought process to Daly.

The contract with Manly's major sponsor, Kaspersky, expires at the end of the year and it is likely they will not renew. The loss of the club's two most marketable stars, Cherry-Evans and Foran, will make make it harder to attract corporate dollars.

"The club has said in the press they are out in the market looking for some marquee halves - but they won't be as good as the ones they had and there was no need to lose them," Sidney said.

"They needed to put in the effort to find out the real concerns of the players. There will need to be a virtual team rebuild."

Quantum officials have been painted as being behind a push to force Stewart and Watmough - the latter offered a contract extension worth $1.5 million over two years - out of the club. However, Sidney said that was never the case.

"Glenn Stewart is a great player and representative for Manly and the Penns, Quantum and the coach wanted him to stay," he said. "But the reality is it couldn't work, there wasn't enough money in the salary cap to retain him. He was willing to stay for less than he was worth but the NRL wouldn't have registered a contract because it would have been below his market value.

"Quantum and myself appear to have got the blame for not wanting Glenn Stewart, which is entirely not true.

"And Anthony Watmough is a great player, a local junior and a life member. Manly made him a very good offer for 2016-17, although Parramatta offered him an extra year. The feeling within the club was that, as good a player as he was, we couldn't give him an additional year because of his age."

Toovey, one of Manly's greatest players, has put together an impressive coaching record since taking over in difficult circumstances from Des Hasler. However, he hasn't been on the same page as the new management, who have kept him out of the loop on retention and recruitment developments. On the same day Toovey revealed Todd Carney was a player of interest, CEO Joe Kelly said he was not.

Attempts to contact Kelly on Saturday were unsuccessful.