EA Eagles COO David Perry is confident coach Des Hasler will see out the final year of his contract despite speculation he will be released early by the club to join the Bulldogs in 2012.
And The Manly Daily understands a delegation of senior players spoke to club management this morning demanding that Hasler stay. Asked about the continuing concerns regarding Hasler’s future at Manly, Perry said: “We are positive that Des will be part of next year.
“Des is a professional coach and we know the players will respond to him next season, understanding that is his final year.
“And he has given us every indication that he wants to do it.â€
Perry said the situation may be motivation for the players to see him out in a positive way with back-to-back premierships.
“I think Des is pretty unique in this circumstance and the players are very loyal to him and that is why the culture is so strong amongst them,†Perry said.
“And I am certain he can still get the job done.â€
Perry doesn’t believe that it would be destabilising for Hasler to remain with the Sea Eagles in 2012. “He is a premiership winning coach, we know the players support him 100 per cent and I’ve got a view that it is business as usual,†he said.
“We will have to monitor the situation and communication is key,†he said. “I think we need to ensure that whoever is the coach in 2013 needs to be part of that process as well.â€
Board member Bob Reilly said Hasler was contracted to the club and would like to see him stay next year.
The chairman of the Manly leagues club and Manly district football club said there was a lot of debate about that situation. “That will be dialogue that we need to have with the powerbrokers within the organisation,†Reilly said.
“That is a big call and I don’t know where anybody stands on that at all so we have to flesh that out and see what the circumstances are.
“At the end of the day we are only one party on the board and I am sure there will be different opinions from everyone.â€
Former Manly owner Max Delmege said a decision on whether Hasler should go early or serve out his contract until the end of next season was not a matter for him to decide.
“I think that’s really Des’s decision,†he said.
Delmege said he was sad to see Hasler go.
“First of all I have to say we have had the best coach in the NRL and that’s been bought about by three grand final berths and two wins,†he said.
“But he is moving on and obviously in his mind he wants another challenge and I understand that.â€