Anthony Seibold is expected to take over as Manly’s head coach following the sacking of Des Hasler — and a couple of rugby league legends hope he lays down his terms to the unstable club first.
After weeks of speculation, the Sea Eagles confirmed on Thursday night that Hasler’s contract had been terminated.
It came after a battle of power between Hasler and the club’s senior management — one that Cooper Cronk called “ridiculous.”
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The fallout from the decision to axe Hasler could get ugly with both parties in discussions “to try and reach an amicable resolution” financially.
Manly’s best player, Tom Trbojevic has also called an emergency meeting with his manager on Friday to discuss his future in the wake of the news.
Des done! Manly sack head coach | 07:33
With the Sea Eagles expected to announce Seibold as their new coach, Cronk and Greg Alexander stressed that the instability needs to be settled before he arrives.
“There’s obviously some issues at Manly so if I’m a new coach I want them cleaned out and fixed up,” Cronk said on Fox League’s RLWC Preview Show.
“Seibold is coming from a tough history at the Broncos — do you want to jump back into an unstable environment?
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“Seibold can coach, I still believe that, but does he want to go into a club that’s unstable after what he’s been through? Or does he go in and say ‘these are my terms, put these things in place, clean out whatever needs cleaning out and then I’ll come in’?”
“I can only think Seibold has said that to (CEO) Tony Mestrov,” Alexander added.
“I can only think Seibold has said ‘I’m not coming until you sort this joint out — and sort it out at all levels’.”
Hasler has been under pressure — rightly or wrongly — ever since the rainbow jersey saga. Manly lost their final seven games following that incident to finish 11th.
Braith Anasta, who said he was “still a little shocked” by the news, doesn’t believe the jersey drama is solely to blame, but it “exposed massive fractures in the club between the coach and leadership.”
Only Teddy’s spot is certain! – Mal | 04:38
Meanwhile, Alexander said this result was “inevitable,” given arguments “about power” had been going on for the last month.
But Cronk believes both Hasler and the Sea Eagles powerbrokers should have found a solution much earlier because the club is now on the backfoot heading into 2023.
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“When you’ve got the heads of your football department and head of your club fighting over who is in control, you are zero chance of winning a competition,” he said.
“The losers out of this are the players and the supporters.
“Both parties should have got together months ago and worked out a contingency plan because the best thing about that is that their a chance of winning the competition. Now, do they have to wipe it all clean and start all over again?
“Manly is Des Hasler and Des Hasler is Manly. They should have worked this out a long time ago.
“They should have broken bread, met in the middle and formed a plan for Manly to win a comp, not just fight over power.
“When you want to win a competition you’ve all got to be running in the same direction.”
