Defiant St George Illawarra CEO Peter Doust has refused to accept blame for Mark Gasnier's departure to rugby union, instead declaring the Dragons had helped keep the star centre in the game for an extra two years.
While disappointed at Gasnier's decision to walk out of the club to join French outfit Stade Francais, Doust was not prepared to wear any flak from those angered by the loss of such a high profile player.
The Dragons boss pointed out his club had kept Gasnier from signing with the Australian Rugby Union in 2006, securing him on a five-year deal which contained a unique third-party arrangement.
Following the failure of those third-party sponsors to honour their financial commitments, Gasnier exercised a get-out clause in his contract and accepted a two-year, $2m deal to play rugby in France.
"It's up to the fans to make a judgment about these very, very complex circumstances," Doust said on Tuesday.
"If we hadn't have put together this complex deal he would have been in rugby union in 2006."
"That's as clear as the nose on anybody's face."
"The fact they've had two years with him is probably a virtue."
"We wish it had of been resolved more successfully but it was a complex deal to start with."
"How do you put together a deal to compete with those sorts of numbers (offered by the ARU)?"
Doust then attempted to explain the workings of Gasnier's intricate contract, revealing: "It (the third party deal) was supplementation to what we could afford to pay."
"Mark signed a contract in 2006 for five years based on those commitments."
"We couldn't contractualise those commitments because the NRL wouldn't let us and so we had to put in a (escape) clause to allow him to make a decision if they weren't honoured."
"We've done the best we can to put together a deal to keep Mark Gasnier in the game."
Gasnier insisted his move to France was not motivated by money, but conceded he felt short-changed after the third-party deal collapsed.
"Would you work if you only got paid two-thirds of your wage?" he asked.
"Would you be happy to keep turning up to work for two years and for that to keep going on?"
"I didn't want to risk that and I couldn't foresee the future so I had to react to it."
"I'm definitely not going to leave thinking I did the wrong thing by anyone."
Asked if he feared a backlash from Dragons fans - the most demanding in the game - Gasnier responded: "If they're angry so be it. I can't change whether people are angry at this decision."
"I had to act and do what was best for me in this situation."
"I'm not going to leave a bitter person and I'm not going to blame anyone."
"The game has been good to me and I'm not going to bag it."
Doust added: "I don't know whether anger serves any purpose at all."