The saga unfolded when seven Manly Sea Eagles players cited religious grounds for refusing to wear the club's pride jersey in a match against the Sydney Roosters.

Manly lost that match 20-10, putting their finals hopes in doubt.

On Wednesday, an anonymous teammate and backer of the pride jersey criticised the group, asking why they didn't take a stand on decisions by the club to align with betting and beer.

"I can [also] tell you very few young blokes in our club live by the 10 commandments," he reportedly said.

But Manly supporter, rugby union player and senior pastor at Wagga Fellowship Jerry Rokosuka, 42, believes the players were in the right.

"The club basically forced them to wear the pride jersey," he said. "That was not the right way to go about it, and at the end of the day it is the players who represent us as Sea Eagles supporters."

A key claim of the Manly players has been that they were not consulted until days before the match.

Mr Rokosuka believes this is a result of bad club management.

"I believe they should have called the players one week before putting the [rainbow] on the jersey to let them know," he said.

"That would have been good management, because nobody can come with one opinion and force it on people. And at the end of the day what makes the club management happy is how the team performs on the ground."

Reflecting as a church minister, Mr Rokosuka said he takes the same approach.

"We can't force anyone to wear religious [symbols], that is an individual choice," he said.

"Secondly, we can't force anyone to do anything.

"For example, I can't force someone to stop drinking or smoking because at the end of the day, it's their decision."

Mr Rokosuka, who has been involved with sports leadership in his home country of Fiji, said consultation is key. "You can't be a good leader, if you're not a good listener," he said.

"The management need to come down to [the level of] the players."

Mr Rokosuka said it is important as a club leader to value the players, their thoughts and their positions.

"It comes down to how much you value your players," he said.

"How you value people matters more than anything else."

Mr Rokosuka said steps needed to be taken to avoid a repeat of the saga.

"[Next time] the management need to call all the players together and ask them what they think. That way, the captain and players will [be able to] come up with ideas," he said.

The one-off rainbow colouring addition to the Sydney club's jerseys sparked talk about introducing an official pride round to the NRL season.

Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame inductee and transgender woman Kirsti Miller has backed the idea, saying it could "save lives".