Read the last paragraph in this article below with the quote from Gordon's manager when this first happened.
f**k off to the Eels for your sook!
No one is bigger than the club!
http://m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/lea...16-gh35mj.html
Cronulla's decision not to release Michael Gordon to play with Parramatta has hurt them in the hip pocket, with a club sponsor severing ties in protest over the treatment of the former NSW representative.
Fairfax Media can reveal One Solutions, the membership and chest sponsor of the Sharks, terminated its relationship with Cronulla on Thursday. Ironically, the company which is also a personal sponsor of Gordon's had previously backed the Eels, the club the fullback had hoped to join.
The Eels had earmarked Gordon as a replacement for NFL hopeful Jarryd Hayne and were poised to announce a mid-season transfer. The blue and golds believe they had been given permission from the Sharks to negotiate with Gordon and it is understood they have text messages to back their claim. It is understood the transfer was blocked at the last moment by Cronulla chief executive Lyall Gorman.
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One Solutions which provides lending, insurance, financial and property advice tore up its contract with the Sharks due to a clause surrounding reputational damage suffered as a result of the Gordon affair. The firm was the club's major sponsor leading into the 2013 finals series and has an option in its favour for 2016.
The Sharks, still without a major sponsor, can ill afford to alienate the few they have on their books. Gorman and Cronulla chairman Damian Keogh have called a crisis meeting with One Solutions officials next week in a last-ditch attempt to resurrect the partnership.
Gordon has won consecutive Monty Porter Medals as the club's best and fairest, but the Sharks aren't prepared to sign him for next season. The Eels only want the 32-year-old if he shifts before the June 30 transfer deadline. The blue and golds want someone to slot straight into the No.1 jersey after the experiment with Will Hopoate at fullback failed.
Gordon would have been part of a player swap with Darcy Lussick, with the Sharks initiating the bid for the former Manly forward. However, the move unravelled when Lussick copped a four-week suspension for a high tackle.
Gordon's manager, Andrew Purcell, believes the hard-line stance could force his client into premature retirement.
"Yes, absolutely. Of course it could," Purcell said. "Which is why we have been so desperate to get this deal done. There are no guarantees for us anywhere. That's not to say that something won't happen, but it hasn't yet.
"He still has football left in him but the majority of the clubs have good fullbacks or they are blooding new ones. This is a unique opportunity for this kid to continue his football career over the next two years and there isn't another club where he can do that at this stage."
The Eels believe their long-term custodian is Bevan French, the teenager who made an impressive NSW Cup debut in Wentworthville's crushing 48-4 win over the Warriors. They view Gordon as the ideal man to mentor French and help him make the transition to the NRL.
While there has been a war of words between Parramatta and Cronulla over Gordon, Purcell is adamant he and his client have acted appropriately.
"He was absolutely given permission to negotiate, 100 per cent," Purcell said. "But he was not officially granted a release."
