News coming out of Manly’s backrooms suggest Des Hasler has already been informed he will not coach the Sea Eagles beyond 2023, with Anthony Seibold tipped to take the reigns in the northern beaches after an assistant stint next NRL season.
The offseason axing—which will officially happen in 12 months—has been boiling for a while.
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Reports from around the NRL world suggest Hasler was ousted (again, he’s expected to see out the 2023 NRL season, for now) after he locked horns publicly and privately with the club’s management during the pride jersey debacle. Hasler and Manly bosses Scott Penn and Tony Mestrov recently held peace talks that fell through.
There’s a two-fold reason for the axing, The Sporting Base understands. One is that Hasler has privately declared he has no faith in the Sea Eagles powerbrokers anymore after they left the coach and players to deal with the backlash over the pride round jersey.
The second is the club heavily favours ex-Broncos coach Seibold for the top gig.
Seibold, who was sacked by Brisbane in 2020, has been working in rugby union since then. Club owner Penn and chief executive Mestrov reportedly rate the way Seibold coaches very highly.
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Interestingly, Hasler had a get-out-of-jail extension clause that he failed to activate as Manly slumped to 11th following the jersey saga; if the Sea Eagles had finished sixth or better, the veteran coach would have automatically had 2024 added to his tenure.
Hasler has coached Manly in 303 NRL games between his 2004–11 and 2019–22 stints.
The 61-year-old, who played a further 256 top-flight games for the northern beaches outfit between 1984 and 1996, won the 2008 and 2011 championships with Manly. In 2008, the Sea Eagles obliterated the Melbourne Storm 40-0 in a famous grand final victory. Three years later, Hasler guided the club to a 24-10 win over New Zealand for a second trophy.
A week after his 2011 premiership victory, Hasler agreed to join the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 2013 NRL season. Manly sacked him soon after, alleging “serious breaches” to his contract. Sources at the time suggested he was trying to lure staff and players to the Bulldogs.
He led the Bulldogs to two grand finals in 2012 and 2014 but lost both.
The Sporting Base understands St George Illawarra has already quietly made contact with Hasler’s agent, George Mimis, to sound out the two-time premiership helmsman joining the Red V in 2024.
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