“He’s definitely the best coach I’ve ever had.

  • We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.

BOZO

Journey Man
Tipping Member

Former NRL star Josh Reynolds has praised Des Hasler as the “best coach” he’s ever had and revealed the reason he decided to make the move to the English Super League.​

Reynolds was granted a release from the final year of his Wests Tigers contract in December to take up a two-year deal with Hull FC.

The 31-year-old touched down in England a fortnight ago and has since told By the Ballspodcast that it was the opportunity to play footy every week, to “fly under the radar” and the signing of former Tigers assistant Brett Hodgson as Hull FC’s new coach that got him over there.

“I’ll be completely honest ‘Hodgo’ was a massive factor because I’ve obviously had a fair bit to do with him at the Tigers and I knew if I was going to go over there I wanted to have a coach who knows what I’m all about,” Reynolds said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still got to prove myself to everyone at the club but I know he’s a good person. I know he’ll need to make a couple of hard decisions here or there but I know he’ll always have my best interest at heart.”

Reynolds has had a tumultuous couple of years away from the field and he admits the opportunity to live a quieter life with much less media attention was also a big factor in his decision.

“I’ll be brutally honest, back in Australia the media is onto rugby league players a lot more and love exposing everything about their lives... and they don’t really care about what happens after it,” he said.



“But over here it’s a bit different, it’s not as big in a sense and you fly under the radar a bit more... I like that in this point of my career.

“After what I’ve been throughout these past couple of years, I sort of just want to fly under the radar, play good footy and just have fun.

“In the end that’s why I came here, I know it’s going to be tough sometimes but in the end if I’m playing footy it’s what I love most so if I’m doing that I’ll be sweet.”

Reynolds joins Hull FC with 160 NRL games under his belt. His last two seasons in the NRL were full of highs and lows but he says he still has plenty of fight left in him.

“I just want to show my teammates and myself that I’ve still got a lot to give,” he said.

“In the last couple of years I probably haven’t been able to show that because of certain reasons but I definitely know I’ve still got the passion and the love for the game.”

The Belmore product had a prolific rise in the NRL during his seven seasons with the Bulldogs which included two NRL grand finals and a State of Origin debut. He spent six of those seasons with Hasler, whom he has credited for his success.

“He’s definitely the best coach I’ve ever had... in the sense of just knowing how to deal with certain people and players,” Reynolds said.

“He knows the game too, he really helped me with my game and made it very simple what I have to do. A lot of the stuff he wanted me to do was all the little things and that was my role in that team.

“He was funny too, he’s a very different man.

“The way he treated the media and everyone on the outside was so different to how he treated us. He made us feel like we were a family.

“He’s very footy based but he also did care about what was going on the outside.

“I’ll be forever grateful for him and what he’s done for my career.”

Reynolds and Hasler left the Bulldogs at the end of 2017 but for very different reasons. He took up a lucrative offer from the Tigers, while Hasler was sacked.

The two however, have stayed in contact, with Reynolds revealing Hasler — who also spent a season playing for Hull FC in the 90s — gave him a cheeky congratulatory call when he heard the news.

“He actually gave me a call before I came over here and told me he’s the king of Hull and I have to pay him some tolls for being over here.”

Reynolds’ career took a bad turn when he joined the Tigers. He had a cruel run with injuries and when he was healthy he struggled to lock down a position in the team.

“The last couple of years haven’t been ideal. I signed with the Tigers and had high hopes but injury and selection just came into it,” he said.

“It is what it is, there’s nothing else to it. I tried my hardest, trained my hardest but it just wasn’t supposed to be.”

His time there was a stark contrast to the day he was chaired off the field at Belmore Sports Ground after a Dogs’ win in 2017, a magical memory to go with the many others — some good and others painful — he has from his time at the Bulldogs.

“My best memories are from being at that club — that’s nothing against the Tigers — it’s just where I had the most success and the best memories. I take a lot of pride in what I did there,” Reynolds said.

One that is still fresh in his mind is the 2012 grand final loss to the Storm — Reynolds’ first NRL grand final in just his second season in first grade. He recalls it as the “most hurt” he’s felt during his time in the game

“I’ll never forget the week leading in, the streets of Belmore were something I’ll never forget. We were treated like kings,” he said.

“We were so close but so far. I think we were the better team all year but Melbourne just out-Melbourned us in the end. They were too classy, too smart... it’s probably the most hurt I feel from rugby league because I just know we were so close.”

Two years later, Reynolds experienced more grand final heartbreak. But he says that was “very different.”

“We had a great year, but Souths were a pretty special team. I feel it was already made for them.”

With two grand final losses behind him, Reynolds is hopeful he can go one better in the Super League.

“You shouldn’t go into any season without thinking you want to win the comp. Let’s face it, whether people think you can or not you should want to do that so I feel that’s where the bar should be,” he said.

“We may have a long way until we do get there but that’s I suppose the expectation. For me, that’s why I’ve come here. I didn’t come here to win a few games and sail off into the sunset, I still haven’t won a comp... that’s the goal, everyone wants to get to the big dance and win it.”
 
“He’s definitely the best coach I’ve ever had... in the sense of just knowing how to deal with certain people and players,” Reynolds said.

“He knows the game too, he really helped me with my game and made it very simple what I have to do. A lot of the stuff he wanted me to do was all the little things and that was my role in that team.

“He was funny too, he’s a very different man.

“The way he treated the media and everyone on the outside was so different to how he treated us. He made us feel like we were a family.

“He’s very footy based but he also did care about what was going on the outside.

“I’ll be forever grateful for him and what he’s done for my career.”
 
I found this little passage below from the article pretty funny.....

The two however, have stayed in contact, with Reynolds revealing Hasler — who also spent a season playing for Hull FC in the 90s — gave him a cheeky congratulatory call when he heard the news.

“He actually gave me a call before I came over here and told me he’s the king of Hull and I have to pay him some tolls for being over here.”
 
“He’s definitely the best coach I’ve ever had... in the sense of just knowing how to deal with certain people and players,” Reynolds said.

“He knows the game too, he really helped me with my game and made it very simple what I have to do. A lot of the stuff he wanted me to do was all the little things and that was my role in that team.

“He was funny too, he’s a very different man.

“The way he treated the media and everyone on the outside was so different to how he treated us. He made us feel like we were a family.

“He’s very footy based but he also did care about what was going on the outside.

“I’ll be forever grateful for him and what he’s done for my career.”
Thank you for posting this @BOZO. I saw it yesterday and wanted to post it here but I'm technically challenged and also where to post it! Amazed Des is Reynolds best coach and I thought it a very insightful interview - and believable as far as Des is concerned.
 
Thank you for posting this @BOZO. I saw it yesterday and wanted to post it here but I'm technically challenged and also where to post it! Amazed Des is Reynolds best coach and I thought it a very insightful interview - and believable as far as Des is concerned.
You are welcome and I am glad you enjoyed this story as much as I have .

We are only as good as our last game and I know Des is much better than that and I would love nothing more than a Big year from Des and the boys this year

*Time for us Glorify to our Legendary Jersey and our Legendary club *
357ea9e29031df69bdc168d25cb09c4a.jpg
 
Here goes:
2011 - Kevin Moore, Jim Dymock
2012-2017 - Dessie
2018 - Ivan Cleary
2019-2020 - Madge Maguire

Not a vast array of contenders...
Just my 2 bobs worth ...

Des holds the record of the biggest win in grand final history against one of the biggest clubs in the game with the biggest players names in the game and against the one of the biggest coaches in the game in Bellamy

Des destroyed Bellamys game plan by a record 40 points to nil .
40 points to Nil !!!!......and this was not just a game . It was the Mother of all games , It was the grand final where everything is on the line .

I know this was way back in 2008 but the record still stands and no other coach has equaled or surpassed it .

We cannot live on our laurels Des . Time to shine once again !!!
 
Here goes:
2011 - Kevin Moore, Jim Dymock
2012-2017 - Dessie
2018 - Ivan Cleary
2019-2020 - Madge Maguire

Not a vast array of contenders...
Certainly have a lot more aptitude then me getting that type of accurate detail . Actually ironically [ or maybe not ] Reynolds probably played his best footy under Des
 
I think it's as much a dig at the tigers coaches who didn't select him as it is praise for Sorry. DES gave him his start. But I think he also might have moved him on for a K Foran.
 
I think it's as much a dig at the tigers coaches who didn't select him as it is praise for Sorry. DES gave him his start. But I think he also might have moved him on for a K Foran.
Kevin Moore was coach when he made his debut for the Dogs but Des sure played a big part in his 1st grade career and not surprising at all he's "definitely the best coach he's ever had".

You're right he's also having a dig, particularly at Maguire.
 
I’ve said it before, Des coached a very average dogs team to 2 grand finals. As Reynolds says he did exactly what Des told him to do.
 
Certainly have a lot more aptitude then me getting that type of accurate detail . Actually ironically [ or maybe not ] Reynolds probably played his best footy under Des
If only he had the privilege of being coached by Baz (the attack specialist) then perhaps his choice would be different. Yeah, nah it'd still be the same.
 

Members online

Latest posts

Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
3 2 1 45 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 22 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
3 2 1 10 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
Back
Top Bottom