Departing Manly chief executive Grant Mayer has offered up the signatures of star duo Matt Orford and David Williams as a potential parting gift when he finishes up at the NRL premiers next month.

Despite being forced from the club as a result of a bitter boardroom power struggle, Mayer said he was determined to leave the Sea Eagles in a powerful position.

And that includes putting together potent squad for the 2010 campaign, with off-contract duo Orford and Williams the two biggest names in Mayer's sights.

Orford, whose manager George Mimis is currently overseas, has been linked with a move to the Super League while "the Wolfman' Williams is believed to a target of the struggling Sydney Roosters.

But Mayer said he was hopeful of keeping both.

"We're close on a number of them - the delay now is that Ox's manager is overseas and that's another ten days away," Mayer said.

"I'd tend to think in the coming weeks the chairman Scott Penn and the coach will be in a pretty good position to make some announcements."

Williams, in camp with the NSW side, said he wanted to remain at the club.

"That's all been left up to my manager at the moment and the club, but as far as I'm concerned I would like to stay at Manly but nothing is for certain yet."

Mayer said leaving Manly in a strong position was of paramount importance to him.

"I want to make sure I leave the club in good hands - that means making sure the club is strong going forward on the field and it's also strong financially with sponsors confirmed and membership programs up and running.

"The last thing I want to do is walk out of here with a massive task on offer for the new CEO coming in."

Manly accepted Mayer's resignation at a board meeting on Wednesday night with the chief executive to wind up his official duties in the next 4-5 weeks.

The bitter feud between co-owners Max Delmege and the Penn family ultimately led to Mayer's demise after the chief executive reportedly lost the support of Delmege when he sided with the Penns.

Despite the ongoing boardroom battle, Mayer said he would recommend the Sea Eagles post to any prospective chief executive.

"Being a rugby league CEO is an outstanding job and I think most people would give their right arm to do it," Mayer said.

"The only issues are man management - whether it be players or board man management and in most cases it's very straight forward to manage.

"Our situation is a little bit different at Manly where you've got two owners, a leagues club representation and a football club representation.

"The crucial issue is there's got to be no more public airing of issues and it's got to be kept behind closed doors.

"The only advice that I would have a for a new CEO is they've got to make sure they can keep these issues behind closed doors."

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