Manly to hit open market for Walker replacement

Manly will hit the market place in search of an outside back as they await the outcome of Dylan Walker's court hearing.

At a Manly board meeting on Thursday night, the club decided to pursue options to fill a hole in the outside backs brought upon by the NRL's "no-fault stand down" rule applied to Walker.

Chief executive Lyall Gorman confirmed the Sea Eagles would begin their search for a suitable player after the club decided it was willing to entertain the idea of applying for salary cap relief from the NRL. 

"What we will do now as a club is to explore the market place and see what’s out there," Gorman told NRL.com on Friday.

"Once we do that we'll assess the merit of the options and make an informed decision from there. My understanding is that it has to be a like-for-like under the NRL's requirements for salary cap relief so that’s the area we'll target."

While the NRL is willing to provide salary cap relief to those affected by the "no-fault stand down" rule, some clubs may baulk at the opportunity given they will have to pay for another player out of their own pockets.

The NRL covers the salary cap in the grant provided to clubs, however additional expenditure doesn't come out of the governing body's coffers.

Manly and St George Illawarra are yet to formally apply for salary cap relief in regards to finding replacements for Walker and Jack de Belin respectively.

However Dragons coach Paul McGregor hinted after his side's loss to South Sydney on Thursday night that the club would begin its search for another forward once they gained some clarity from the NRL.

"That'll be up to Ian to look what’s available once we find out what we can do," McGregor said.

"First of all we've got to know the situation and have a good understanding of it, then Ian will go to work.

"We've got a position open in our squad, we've only got 29 [players] including Jack."