http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/94a34c02e38d1b526fc0903994235916
Trent Barrett re-signs as coach of Manly Sea Eagles
Paul Crawley, The Daily Telegraph
TRENT Barrett turns 40 next Saturday and the NRL’s youngest head coach has reason to celebrate.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that, after months of negotiations, Barrett has finally agreed to a new deal that will see him stay at Manly until the end of 2020.
The Sea Eagles are expected to make it official early next week.
Since taking over from Geoff Toovey, Barrett has done a fine job in difficult circumstances, overseeing the Manly rebuild along with Bob Fulton.
It ultimately saw the club turn over 42 players during Barrett’s first two years in charge.
But throughout the upheaval, Barrett won plenty of respect from the playing group and that was highlighted with this year’s unexpected top-eight finish.
While Fulton recently announced he was stepping down from his role with Manly, Barrett’s new deal is a welcome boost.
The Sea Eagles are still to finalise their roster for next season with Blake Green’s future up in the air.
Green, who is off contract at the end of 2018, is being chased by New Zealand Warriors, who are believed to have offered the 31-year-old five-eighth a four-year deal.
It is understood Manly will only release Green if they can secure a suitable replacement to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves.
The Sea Eagles have a genuine interest in Mitchell Pearce but can’t make any moves until Pearce is given official permission to negotiate with rival clubs.
It is still not known if Pearce will stay at the Roosters in the wake of Cooper Cronk’s signing.
Pearce on Friday posted a picture on Instagram in New York with his girlfriend Zoe Grant and Roosters teammate Dylan Napa.
Pearce is still a week away from returning from holidays and he won’t make a decision until he gets home.
If Pearce decides to leave, it could lead to another round of musical chairs.
Cronulla and Newcastle are also keen on Pearce and both have available salary cap space to snap him up.
The problem Manly might face signing Pearce is that the club still has an NRL salary cap investigation hanging over its head that has been dragging on for months
They just had to get that last bit in didn’t they!
And of course this will be officially announced #nextweek
