Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett has weighed into the Daly Cherry-Evans saga, labelling the NRL’s rules surrounding player movement as an “embarrassment” and an “indictment” on rugby league.

As Manly contemplates a possible player swap involving the Gold Coast-bound five-eighth, Bennett said it was a terrible look for the game to have players committing to other clubs often a full season before their contracts have expired.

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“It’s an embarrassment to the game for me personally,” Bennett said.

“We’re all in on it, we all do it unfortunately.

“I remember being in England 20-odd years ago and it was very prevalent over there, and in our game it didn’t happen.

“I thought that was wonderful and I thought it would never happen in our game.

“It’s happened now and it happens too frequently.”

Bennett said he was not an advocate for any particular system, as long as it takes rugby league away from its annual early-season feeding frenzy.

“If you look across all of world sport, you’ll realise most of them do it a hell of a lot better than we do,” he said.

“They take no prisoners in soccer in regards to player movement. But they’ve got rules and windows and opportunities, so it’s ridiculous to believe we can’t do that.

“It’s an indictment on what we’re trying to do as football clubs, and the game we’re trying to present.”

Bennett admitted it was “destabilising” as a club to know a key player would be switching to a rival side the next season.

“It’s all the speculation that goes with it … we put on a brave mask and we all make out we can handle it but it’s not what you want,” he said.

“The fans are the ones that are the most disappointed because it’s run in such a manner and the season’s about to start.

“The game knows about it. Gee, if they’re not feeling the pain today, the administrators … it’s only going to get worse.”

– AAP