Manly chief executive Grant Mayer insists he does not want to walk away from the club and is hopeful a resolution to the club's boardroom battles can rescue his long-term future with the Sea Eagles.

Mayer told the Sea Eagles board on Thursday night he would not seek a contract extension when his deal expires in October as he no longer had their full support.

The respected chief executive has become the fall guy of a bitter battle between co-owners Max Delmege and Scott Penn.

Delmege has reportedly failed to meet "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in funding payments to the club in recent months but has used his long-standing power at the board level to effectively oust Mayer after the pair fell out last year.

"I've loved every minute I have had at Manly and I want to be at Manly long term," said Mayer on Friday.

"But at the moment there are some issues that need to be resolved and I hope that my actions help resolve those issues.

"My preference is to be here longer than just this year, but I've had to make a stance and my stance is I won't be seeking an extension beyond October 31, 2009.

"If things change and things always change, you never know ... Never say never they say.

"Once we start playing football games again people will realise this is about the Manly football team and any bickering behind the scenes will be put aside and we should move on."

Mayer has been the man responsible for leading the club to its best financial position in many years - increasing the Sea Eagles business from $9 million to $12.5 million in his three years and securing a three-year $2.7 million major sponsorship deal with Quantum Energy.

But at the board meeting only Penn was willing to support an extension of Mayer's contract.

Penn, who is the club's major shareholder with 42 per cent, was overpowered by Delmege, who owns 38 per cent, as the property tycoon has the backing of the Leagues Club representatives on the board.

Penn labelled the current board room as "dysfunctional" and claimed Mayer was the "victim of external politics".

He said he would not desert the club but was adamant the Sea Eagles needed to find more money if Delmege was unable to pay the amounts owing in his shareholders' agreement.

"Commitments are not being met at the moment and that does put a strain on the organisation and it means we either need to find some money elsewhere or the Penn family needs to put more cash in or whatever we need to do to survive," said Penn.

"Financially we are in the best shape we've been in a long time ... and Grant is a big part of that happening.

"Either compromises need to be made or changes need to be made. We're confident that we will hopefully make that happen in the next three or four weeks.

"It is a board issue ... it will not affect anything on the day to day basis of running the club."

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