Manly Sea Eagles’ leadership angst over coach Des Hasler’s power doesn’t add up

All three statements are so obviously true no one would waste time forming an argument against them.

We all know, and have known for many years, that Hasler is a detail-oriented coach with his hands in everything to do with whichever club he’s employed by. Hasler brandishes great power and always has.

It was the case when he was at Manly between 2004 and 2011, when he coached the club to NRL premierships in 2008 and 2011, and when he took Canterbury to two grand finals in the six years he was there too.

That this success-driven, ultra intense and passionate individual is a bit of a control freak should come as a shock to no one, especially Manly’s powerbrokers.

They have known this, both from past experience and from watching his time at the Bulldogs, that Hasler likes to be in charge. They knew this when they signed him again late in 2018.

Hasler has never been coy about who he is or the way he likes to coach a football club – or rather, how he likes to run a football club.

Why now, three years after signing him again, is it such a big deal? What’s the big surprise?

It’s believed the way he handled Manly’s Pride jersey drama is to blame for his fall from grace in the eyes of club bosses. That too is ironic considering his press conference the day after seven players announced they would be standing down in protest against the jersey was some of his finest work as an orator.

For a man who usually grumbles his way through 90 seconds of cliches in a post-match press conference, Hasler was commanding, articulate and thoughtful. It was the moment he became not just a respected leader, but a force for compassion and change within the NRL.

Somehow, in a situation so volatile for players, community and club staff, with wide-ranging social, religious and (least importantly) football ramifications, Hasler’s words conveyed respect to everyone.

Hasler was asked by a journalist why he was the one fronting media and not someone from the club’s administration to explain why the jersey was approved for use without consultation with the players. He said that was a question for the bosses. And weirdly, that one moment is about to be his downfall.

That day he was a man in between a rock and a hard place – a head coach with no CEO and an owner living abroad, who had not yet spoken publicly about the issue.

Tell me, why is it OK that he took on the bulk of the responsibility when the club was in crisis, but now suddenly he has too much power?

And if not Hasler, who exactly should be showing leadership at Manly while they change CEOs every season and Scott Penn continues living in the United States?

It took a lot for Penn and Hasler to repair their relationship after the bitter end to his time with the club in the first place, and when it was announced he would make his return to Manly at the end of 2018 for the 2019 season, questions naturally arose.

Hasler essentially walked out on Manly after the 2011 premiership to take up a job with the Bulldogs, and Geoff Toovey – another club legend – was appointed as his successor.

Toovey, after achieving pretty decent success with the club in four seasons, was turfed out in favour of a hot new coaching prospect, Trent Barrett.

Fans were angry. ‘Tooves’ deserved better in their eyes, and selling Barrett to this fan base was fraught with difficulties. They had to bring back Des.

In October of 2018, just before Hasler’s return was announced, Manly bosses met with around 200 fans at a members’ event at the leagues club to talk about the direction of the club after Barrett’s resignation.

In the press conference announcing Hasler on October 22, Penn said this:

“They were really firm that ideally they’d have a Manly man in charge. We’d been looking at options (to replace Barrett), we hadn’t had formal, formal discussions with Des at that point, but that crystallised our thinking.

“We’ve won all eight premierships with a Manly man in charge, so we are confident Des can bring us back the success that we need.”

How Manly think it will be any different this time around with rumoured incoming coach Anthony Seibold is absolutely baffling.

It’s little wonder they’re one of few clubs who have not yet opened their membership sales for next season.

Seibold is the man backed by Manly bosses to take over when this situation becomes untenable. Which is imminent. Hasler wants the chance to be able to groom a successor of his choice, likely Josh Hannay, but that would mean keeping Hasler on board for at least another season.

The second option at least allows fans a smooth transition to a new, non-Manly coach and gives Hasler another chance to be judged with hopefully a full season with his best player, Tom Trbojevic, fit and on the field.

After the 2022 season, the Pride jersey fallout, injuries, finishing 11th and now this, Manly needs their fans on board. They can’t afford to throw another coach in on a hiding to nothing with a fan base this passionate.

In the end, the people who lose out in these fights are the fans, who just want to show up, cheer on a team that represents them and maybe have a shot at a premiership each year.

In Hasler they have that.

A local man with Manly in his veins, who can never be accused of not caring about his players or winning. He’s always been honest about that.