There's an article on The Telegraph site indicating that Max Donnelly wasn't interested in upping the offer due to 'team culture'.
I can't post it as it won't let me read it.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/c63d45bc5b5ea8dce708eb43c3b65012
Jarryd Hayne signs with Titans: Eels couldn’t risk team culture by breaking the bank for Hayne
Nick Tabakoff Editor-at-Large, The Daily Telegraph
August 3, 2016 8:13pm
PARRAMATTA administrator Max Donnelly says the Eels’ resilient team culture would likely have been ruined if the club had broken the bank to sign Jarryd Hayne.
Mr Donnelly told the Daily Telegraph that the club could not have matched the Titans’ two year, $2.4 million deal for Hayne without culling its current roster.
“We could not possibly pay him that amount of money and be under the cap,” he said. “The only way we could have done it at that sort of money was to get rid of players - and if we do any more, it could have an impact on the unity of the team.”
The club was lashed by Eels fans over the May departure to the Titans of Nathan Peats - regarded as one of the country’s top hookers - in the wake of the NRL’s sanctions against the club following its salary cap scandal.
Peats had played a pivotal role in elevating the club to the NRL’s top four before the sanctions were imposed. Other key players including Junior Paulo and Ryan Morgan have also departed following the NRL sanctions.
But Mr Donnelly said that offloading players to snap up a marquee signing was not in the interests of the club. “When you do it that way, you get taken advantage of,” he said. “By paying over the odds for any player, it compromises the rest of the roster. We’re not going to play that game.”
“I want the fans to know we had a dig - but we weren’t in the hunt at that number.”
Mr Donnelly also strongly backed the club’s current playing roster. “I don’t know of any players we want to get rid of. By paying over the odds for any player, it compromises the rest of the roster.
Mr Donnelly has also emphatically denied the departed star’s claims that the club had not made him an offer, saying simply: “We did table the offer.” He declined to comment further.
However, earlier this week, Hayne’s manager Wayne Beavis was communicated an offer by Eels football department officials.
It is understood Parramatta initially offered up to $800,000 a year for Hayne, starting from next year. The Eels are believed to have had limited wriggle room to move on this offer, but anything close to $1 million a year was always out of the question.
This position was reached in consultation between the coach Brad Arthur, the football department and the club’s new administration.
According to witnesses to a phone conversation between Beavis and the officials that took place on Tuesday, Hayne’s veteran manager responded: “Jarryd is disappointed with the offer. You’ll need to sharpen your pencil.”
When the officials asked how far short the Eels’ offer was, Beavis reportedly responded: “$500,000.”
The Eels officials followed up with a query on whether this shortfall was for the full two-year contract. The response was words to the effect of: “No, each year.”
Eels insiders say there was no indication that a rival deal would be signed as little as 24 hours later. The club had until this week been focused on finalising its confusing position in hiring players, in the wake of the salary cap scandal, by expediting the termination agreement of Kieran Foran.
The club was unable to make a formal offer to Hayne until Monday, when this termination agreement was completed. It is understood that Hayne made no attempt to make contact with the club’s new administration to sort out any uncertainty over who would take over.
The club has been penalised its 12 points and $1 million fine due to secret third party agreements it made with a number of its players, including Hayne, who was promised up to $465,000 in third-party payments by the club.
There is no suggestion that Hayne or Beavis have done anything wrong. However, the role of agents and players remain in the sights of the NRL as part of the second phase of its investigation.
However, this does not prevent Hayne from resuming his NRL career against the Warriors on Sunday.
A spokesman for the NRL said the code’s investigation into players and agents involved with the Eels is ongoing.
“Like any other player, Jarryd Hayne is free to play while that investigation is undertaken,” he said.
