BY STAFF WRITERS

Former Parramatta fan favourite Mark Riddell has ripped into Balmain legend Ben Elias over his comments regarding veteran prop Tim Mannah.

31-year-old Mannah had been linked to a short term deal at Wests Tigers, immediately ending his stay at the Eels.

Elias didn’t mince his words when asked about Mannah saying he wouldn’t buy the forward with “counterfeit money”.

But Riddell, a former teammate of Mannah, used his morning show on Macquarie Sports Radio to hit back at Elias.

“The thing with Tim Mannah is he’s going to do a job for you,” he said.

“He’s going to make his tackles, he’s going to carry the ball for you on a lot of occasions no else wants to do it.

“I found it really disrespectful that Benny said that about someone like Tim Mannah but we’ve come to expect that from him.

“These days he’s just a rent-a-quote for journalists, that’ll all he is. They know they’re going to get a headline out of him.

“Tim Mannah has got the right to tell him to piss off.”