Manly Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler has apologised over the club's handling of the inclusion of rainbow colours on the club jersey, saying it was a "significant mistake".
Seven players are boycotting their NRL match on Thursday over their team's decision to wear a gay pride jersey.
Hasler told a press conference he apologised profusely for not consulting with stakeholders or their players.
“In this specific instance, I feel from these players. Not included in any of the discussions, and at a minimum, they should have been consulted,” Hasler said.
"The jersey intent was to support the advocacy and human rights pertaining to gender, race, culture, ability and LGBTQ movements.
"Sadly the execution of what was intended to be an extremely important ... initiative was poor."
Hasler said the club would still wear the pride jersey in the match, which includes rainbow trimming in areas where white stripes usually are.
The players who will not wear the jerseys are Josh Aloiai, Toafofoa Sipley, Tolutau Koula, Christian Tuipulotu, Haumole Olakau'atu, Jason Saab and Josh Schuster, who have refused to play due to their religious and personal beliefs.
"They are not wearing the jersey as it conflicts with their cultural and religious beliefs," Hasler said.
"And I am concerned for their welfare. Their spirituality is a central part of their well-being. The club has made an error from which it will learn."
Hasler specifically apologised to the LGBTQIA+ community.
"We wish to apologise to the LGBTQ community who embrace the rainbow colours, who use these colours for pride and advocacy and human rights issues," he said.
It means ninth-placed Manly, who are fighting to keep their finals hopes on track against the Roosters, who are eighth, face the prospect of entering the critical round 20 fixture with a wildly disrupted line-up.
Ian Roberts, a Manly legend and the first NRL player to come out openly as gay in 1995, praised the "authenticity and sincerity" of Hasler and Cherry-Evans's comments.
He said it was "wonderful" the club would still wear the pride jersey this week and that he had been consulted about the plan several weeks ago.
"This is the club I came out at," he said.
"The reason I came out at this club was because I felt safe."
Roberts said he was surprised there had not been any public "push back" before this week, which he now attributes to a lack of consultation within the club.
"This is probably not the way we wanted this conversation to start but we're having this conversation now," he said.
"So I'm seeing it in a positive light."
The former forward, who has long lobbied the NRL for a scheduled pride round, said he "fully respects" the seven players' decision not to wear the jersey.
But he added he would "love the opportunity" to explain to them what a pride round would mean to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Roberts also rejected the idea that sport should not involve itself in social issues.
"Sport's always been political," he said.
"Sport's part of society and society is political. So this conversation needs to be had."
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys said he respected the decisions of the seven boycotting players.
"They’ve got religious and cultural differences and that’s the beauty of Australia, we all have those freedoms," he said.
"But let me say this though, one thing I take pride in with rugby league is that we treat everyone the same, we’re all human beings, it doesn’t matter what your colour is, what your sexual orientation is, it doesn’t matter what your race is … we’re all equal."
Mr V'Landys said the club should have shown more respect to the players and not "sprung" the pride jersey on them.
Professor Jioji Ravulo is the chair of Social Work and Policy Studies at the University of Sydney, and works with NRL players as a counsellor.
He told The Drum that for some members of the Pasifika community, their identities are "inextricably linked" to their families and religion.
Mr Ravulo said there was an opportunity to engage with players in that community and have a "collaborative conversation" about diversity.
"I think a lot of their considerations would be around, 'how do we uphold our families' beliefs?'," he said.
"It's really important that we encourage a broader, bigger picture of diversity through these conversations rather than just think everything will be OK."
Not-for-profit Pride in Sport, which supports Australian sporting organisations, said initiatives such as pride rounds were powerful statements to players.
"These things matter because we know that many LGBTQ+ people have concerns about coming out," it said.
"In all sports, including rugby league, participants can heavily censor themselves over fears of being outed, resulting in detrimental impacts on mental and physical health.
"We know that these concerns can prevent LGBTQ+ people from participating in sport at all levels, from community to professional."
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) this afternoon said it was important that "we respect everyone for who they are".
ACL managing director Martyn Iles said: "The inclusive society is one that respects people's conscience and convictions.
"It is not inclusive to force someone to wear a political symbol. In fact, it's totally exclusive."
On Sunday, the club announced it would wear an LGBTQIA+ jersey for the round 20 match against the Roosters at Brookvale.
A rainbow design replaces the usual strip's white hoops to celebrate "inclusiveness", with Kieran Foran, Reuben Garrick and Sean Keppie among those who launched the jersey on social media.
