The NSW Origin forward admits Manly became bitter after its infamous boozy season launch in March that resulted in sexual assault charges against Brett Stewart and Watmough himself being fined for allegedly punching a sponsor.

They were dark times for the club and the players lost the first four games of their NRL premiership defence. Each loss seemed to intensify the Sea Eagles' resentment but now, after winning four of their past five games to sit one win outside the top eight, happiness, at least among the players, is restored.

Watmough refused all media interviews for months but broke his silence yesterday as he prepared for his first State of Origin appearance since 2005. Speaking before reports Sea Eagles CEO Grant Mayer had resigned, Watmough spoke of the players' anguish.

''It was us versus the world a bit and that's not good in a way,'' Watmough said. ''We got tortured a bit at the start of the year and everyone just hammered us. It was sort of like, 'well, if you guys are going to hammer us, there's no need for us to talk to you'.

''But you sort of get over it, you can't hold grudges forever.

''We moved on from the start of the year a long time ago but probably me and a couple of other dudes are still a bit bitter at some of the things that were said but that's life and it's going to happen and you can't hold grudges. [But] I think it made us better as a club and a team because we stuck solid.''

Watmough said he felt hard done by ''every day'' and it was only on Tuesday, when he was called into the Blues' Origin side after four years on the outer, that he let go of the resentment. The toughest day was when his son Jake came home from school asking whether dad had punched someone in the head.

''It was a tough life. A lot of the stuff that happened and stuff being said wasn't portrayed the right way.

''It was tough because the kids copped a bit at school but anyone with a bit of common sense knew what it was all about. My kids were smart enough not to read into it and trusted their dad and what he does.''

The 25-year-old, who also has a daughter, said it was difficult having people in the community look down upon him after being the hero of the 2008 premiership side but he felt the tide of support was starting to turn in Manly's favour. AAP