Sponsors steer clear of Manly star despite on-field revival
Brad Walter
July 29, 2011
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HE was once the face of the NRL but now Brett Stewart has to pay for his own boots.
While the former Test fullback is slowly regaining the form that saw him chosen to front the NRL's 2009 advertising campaign, Manly officials say Stewart continues to be shunned by sponsors.
Despite a Sydney court finding him not guilty of a a sexual assault charge against him late last year, Stewart appears to still be suffering from the damage caused by the allegations.
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He recently told Sea Eagles officials that he had to buy his own boots for playing and training.
''Players of Brett's standing often get approached to wear a certain brand of boots and most players get given boots,'' Manly media manager Peter Peters said. ''They usually get as many pairs as they want. But I was speaking to Brett recently and he told me he had to buy his. It is hard to fathom.''
Before being accused of sexual assault on the eve of the 2009 season kick-off, Stewart had no trouble attracting sponsors who wanted him to endorse their products.
Off the field, he was the game's pin-up boy, a type-one diabetic who constantly promoted awareness about the condition and was the 2007 ''sexiest man in league''.
On it, he was a try-scoring machine and the star of Manly's 2008 premiership win over Melbourne.
But the battering his image took during the 18-month ordeal and a string of injuries that limited him to just one match for Manly last season and four in 2009 have obviously taken their toll.
Yet the 26-year-old is now beginning to recapture the form that saw him rated as one of the game's best players in 2007 and 2008. In 12 games this season, Stewart has scored nine tries, a strike rate of 75 per cent.
Before his fall from grace, Stewart had been the NRL's leading tryscorer in 2009, with 19 tries in 21 matches, and his first 100 appearances yielded 80 tries.
''He is just trying to get back to his best form for Manly. If he does that, he thinks the rewards will come with it,'' Peters said.
If he can stay fit, many feel that Stewart will be the X-factor for the Sea Eagles in the finals.
''He has been getting better and better the more he plays and we are all hoping that he gets back to where he was,'' Manly chairman and co-owner Scott Penn said. ''We all know how hard he has worked.''
■ Brisbane and Manly are the biggest losers when it comes to results in games between the big five widely considered to be in the hunt for the NRL premiership.
The top five sides on the ladder - Melbourne, Manly, St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Brisbane - have opened a four-point buffer to the pursuing pack.
In games played against the other heavyweights, Brisbane and Manly have fared poorly. The Broncos have won just one of five games and the Sea Eagles two of five.
Melbourne have three wins from four games against their fellow big guns. The Storm would sit top of a mini-table of the top five based on results among themselves.
St George Illawarra have won two from three and, in a quirk of the draw, will play a total of only four games against the other high-flyers. Each of the other sides plays six or seven matches against their top five rivals.
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