Dane Manning has revealed that he never wanted to leave Halifax and insists that he was “upset” by the manner in which he left the club.
The former Fax forward left under a cloud at the end of last year after the club asked players to take a 10 percent wage cut.
As a result, Manning moved to Batley, who take on Halifax in the Championship on Sunday.
Ahead of the game with his former club, Manning admitted that he never wanted things to turn out the way it did.
“It was upsetting what happened,” said Manning, who made 124 appearances for Halifax.
“I never wanted to leave Halifax, but the club asked all players to take a 10 percent cut in wages and bonuses.
“They told us that if we didn’t want to accept it we could leave and see if we could find another offer. I don’t think they thought any of us would go along with it, and then they were surprised when I did.
“I enjoyed my time there, it’s a big club and I moved there in the first place to win trophies.
“But I’m also really happy at Batley. It’s on my doorstep which means that I get to spend more time with my family. I don’t think you’ll ever hear anyone say a bad thing about Batley, it’s a good club. The lads are finding it difficult to get used to the new structures, but over time that will come and will work in our favour.”
The two clubs head into the match on the back of opening day defeats, and with both sides aiming to finish in the top four, Manning believes both teams need to win.
“We had a bad day in Toulouse and our attitude wasn’t right,” he said.
“But we still want to make the top four and if we want to do that we can’t afford to lose the first two matches.
“The games between Batley and Halifax are always close. They pipped us twice last year and Batley made the four, and Halifax will want to put that right.”
