Des Hasler considers return to Manly Sea Eagles to take over from Trent Barrett as head coach
David Riccio, The Daily Telegraph
a minute ago
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DES Hasler will spend the next 48 hours considering a shock coaching comeback with the club that gave him his shot - the Manly Sea Eagles.
The Daily Telegraph has learned Hasler only has to agree to the Sea Eagles terms to take charge of the club he made his coaching debut with 15 years ago.
In damage-control and without stability within their football department in the wake of coach Trent Barrett’s ugly divorce from the club, the Sea Eagles believe Hasler is the panacea to their problems.
And it appears there’s plenty within the Manly club who agree, with the two-time premiership-winner contemplating a three-year deal which would enable him to commence the job few are willing to accept and return the club to its glory days.
Some say you can’t go back - but that won’t stop Des. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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Manly are a club that needs Manly people to lead it and Hasler has a rich history on the peninsular.
Over eight seasons as coach, Hasler took the Sea Eagles to seven finals series, including victory in the 2008 and 2011 grand final.
He left the club at the end of 2011 to link with Canterbury - a move that delivered immediate results by making the 2012 grand final.
However, Hasler’s tenure at the Bulldogs finished in tears at the end of last year when he was released with two years remaining on his contract.
Hasler’s time in Canterbury ended in acrimony. (Stephen Cooper)
Hasler and Canterbury-Bankstown reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed sum of money - with Dean Pay appointed his replacement in 2018.
In their search for a replacement for Barrett, Manly have been linked to several coaches including Michael Maguire, Neil Henry, John Cartwright, Geoff Toovey and Jason Taylor.
Yet Hasler - just as he likes his football team’s too - has flown under the radar as a candidate despite Manly chief executive Lyall Gorman meeting with the 57-year-old’s manager George Mimis this week.
Unlike a number of the coaching candidates the Sea Eagles have interviewed to replace Barrett, Hasler - for the same reason fans have called for Toovey to take over - isn’t afraid of the huge task ahead.
Having played 256-games for Manly before coaching them to 221 games, Hasler knows the club inside and out, the politics, the fans, the sponsors and the community.
He was also responsible for gifting Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans his NRL debut in 2011.
The Sea Eagles, who weren’t willing to comment publicly last night, are expected to announce their new coach next week with Hasler in the box seat to return.