Manly fans are up in arms and threatening to cancel their memberships in the wake of the club’s dramatic decision to sack one of its favourite sons.
After months of negotiations, legal threats and chaos, the Sea Eagles confirmed on Thursday Des Hasler’s employment had been terminated immediately with a year to run on his contract.
Former Rabbitohs and Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is the odds-on favourite to take over as Manly coach despite his own recent struggles with the political infighting and ruthless media pressure that came with coaching Brisbane before he was also sacked in 2020.
Seibold, currently an assistant coach for the England rugby union team under Eddie Jones, faces a tumultuous start to his Sea Eagles coaching reign, with star players Tom and Jake Trbojevic known to be unsettled by the dismissal of their much-loved coach.
However his problems will extend far beyond the playing group as he faces the monumental task of uniting not only a fractured club, but also a divided supporter group.
Hundreds of fans have made their displeasure known in the past 24 hours, with many saying they would go as far as cancelling their membership after witnessing the brutal axing of a man who won two premierships for the club as a player in 1987 and 1996 and two more as a coach in 2008 and 2011.
Hasler’s legendary playing and coaching record meant little on Thursday as the board voted to terminate his contract, and now sections of the supporter group are absolute fuming with many pointing the finger at the club’s owner and chairman Scott Penn.
“Reminder to those who are paid up Manly Sea Eagles members for 2022 that your 2023 membership will automatically rollover in 4 weeks,” Sea Eagles fan Eddie Pietrzak wrote on Facebook.
“I for one will be cancelling mine for 12 months so hits them where it hurts for 2023.
“Sea Eagle fan since ‘76. Stupid decision today. Could’ve left Dessie run out his contract as he was happy to stay on.”
Sea Eagles fan Kylie Norman shared an email to the club from her father which outlined the reasons for him cancelling his 10-year membership.
“It is with great sadness that I email you today to cancel my membership with the Manly Sea Eagles,” the email from Mr. Norman read.
“I have been a member of the club for over 10 years and a supporter for over 50.
“I have ridden the highs and the lows of being a supporter but in 2022, I have never seen such a display of internal destructiveness, a complete disregard to the loyalty of Manly’s thousands of fans.
“Manly need to be sent a message loud and clear – without the fans, NRL clubs would not survive.
“I no longer have any interest in financially supporting the egotistical Penn’s who have destroyed this once almighty club. Please cancel my membership immediately.
“When Seibold and Penn’s are gone, I will consider supporting Manly again. Until then, I will look forward to Seibold producing another wooden spoon for you all.”
Manly fan Mark Frew declared Hasler had been: “Thrown under the bus because the board can’t handle the way Des goes about things so they took the easy way out.”
Fellow fan Kaine Barnett argued the club had “treated a club legend with no respect and are bringing in a person (Seibold) who has no idea what this club is about, we all know Manly have the most success when we are coached by a Manly person.
“I just hope us as fans stop buying jerseys cancel our memberships and boycott going to home games if we hit them where it hurts their pockets maybe they will realise that we as fans have had enough.”
However it wasn’t all doom and gloom among Manly fans, with many declaring they would stick with the club through thick and thin, even if they don’t necessarily agree with Hasler’s termination.
“To all the fickle fans cancelling their membership, where was your outrage when Des left at the end of the 2011 season when he left to go to the Dogs? Where was your outrage when the board sacked Tooves?” Many fan Keith Mitchell wrote on Facebook.
“Where was your outrage when the club took on an untried and untested non manly coach in Baz?
“If you’re Manly, you’re Manly through and through! There’s nothing can be done unless someone makes the Penns an offer they can’t refuse (to buy the club) and despite what people seem to think, the Penns aren’t going to do things to de-value the club!”
Tony Hall agreed with that sentiment, saying it was obvious owner Scott Penn was making important decisions for the long-term future of the club.
“A person who owns a club with money will not ruin a club on purpose because it costs him big money,” Hall wrote on Facebook.
“Penn has had offers to sell and has refused and now offers would be lower.
“I love Dessy and what he has done for our club but it’s time.
“Seibold did join us during Trent (Barrett’s) reign so he has an idea of the club.”
Gavin Dinsdale showed his support for new Manly CEO Tony Mestrov, writing: “All I know is Tony Mestrov is Manly through and through.
“He knows how to run a club and save organisations like Greyhounds NSW.
“I will still support Manly. I saw Des get us a premiership and saw him walk away. We all cursed him for leaving at the time. Renew or don’t renew membership your choice but I am renewing whatever happens.”
Unfortunately for club hierarchy the saga appears far from over with reports Hasler is considering taking legal action against the club over the sacking and its decision to implement the pride jersey without him being consulted.
The Sea Eagles racked up seven-straight losses in the wake of the rainbow jersey drama which saw seven of the team’s best players withdraw from their Round 20 match against the Roosters on religious and cultural grounds.
The horror end to Manly’s season put the spotlight firmly on Hasler after the Sea Eagles refused to give the two-time premiership winning mentor a contract extension.
Sea Eagles legend Mark Carroll, who played alongside Hasler in the 1996 premiership side, said the decision not to tell Hasler about the pride jersey ultimately sealed his fate.
“It’s unbelievable, it all comes down to the pride jersey, they said it won’t derail us, of course it derailed them, they went down the back door (after it),” Carroll said on SEN.
“Dessy got up and spoke in front of the media, that wasn’t his position to do, why wasn’t the CEO or the boss of Manly doing that, why did Dessy have to put his neck on the line, he spoke fantastically, it was probably the best one he’s ever done.
“I can’t believe he’s actually had to fall on his sword, he bleeds maroon and white, Dessy has done everything for that club, what they have in the future, I have no idea.
“You don’t make a jersey overnight, why didn’t Dessy know about this information? Someone else made a decision and it’s cost him his job.
“Knowing Des the way he is he’ll brush (himself) off and he’ll find another gig, he’s a really good coach and his numbers speak for what he has achieved.
“The players are going to be hurting they all love him, he’s a funny little bloke, the mad scientist, but players want to run through brick walls for him, that’s Des Hasler.”
The ordeal reportedly created a split in the Manly playing ranks that hasn’t been mended.
“There’s still a split in the ranks, as far as I’m concerned, over the pride jersey – the fact that seven players who boycotted that game against the Roosters are still to address their position publicly,” The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield told Fox Sports News.
“Not one of them has said a word since. Internally, with all these meetings they’ve had with the players who did play in that game, I don’t think they’re totally satisfied with the response they’ve had from those players.
“It was a total breakdown in trust.
“Anthony Seibold has a big job to do. I think he’s capable of doing it. I can see Manly all pulling in the right direction when their players get back from the World Cup in the new year.”
“Anthony Seibold did very well at Souths, he was Dally M coach of the year. He went to Brisbane and he didn’t handle it well up there, he wasn’t with his family. He lives on the northern beaches. I think he’ll learn from the experience with Eddie Jones and the England team in rugby union.
“I think he’ll do a good job. He’s not going to just walk in there and expect everything to be OK.”
Manly has had a high turnover of CEOs in recent years and the Sea Eagles’ hierarchy — chairman Scott Penn and CEO Tony Mestrov has come under scrutiny for its handling of the crisis.
“Manly have created this monster in a sense,” NewsCorp NRL editor Adam Mobbs told The Daily Telegraph NRL podcast.
“They’ve gone through how many CEOs in the last few years, they’ve had no direction, Des has almost had to take on these roles and responsibilities.
Journalist Michael Carayannis described the situation as “untenable”.
“There’s no doubt they needed to pull the Band-Aid off, get it done, move on from Des Hasler,” he said.
