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Manly look to axe coach Trent Barrett before end of season
August 26, 2018 9:12am
Dean Ritchie, ExclusiveThe Daily Telegraph
ANGRY Manly officials want coach Trent Barrett gone now and will meet with lawyers on Monday in a bid to immediately terminate his contract.
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ANGRY Manly officials want coach Trent Barrett gone now and will meet with lawyers on Monday in a bid to immediately terminate his contract.
In the latest twist to the bitter fallout between club and coach, the Sea Eagles are outraged after
a frustrated Barrett criticised Manly in The Sunday Telegraph.
One well-placed Manly source said: “You can’t disparage a club where you have an employment contract. He has treated the club with total disdain.”
Barrett is still in line to coach Manly in the club’s final match of the season against Brisbane on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.
But legal advice on Barrett’s comments, in which he claimed the club was grossly under-resourced and archaic, could lead to his instant dismissal.
While refusing to comment publicly, Manly began legal discussions on Sunday afternoon.
The bitter fallout between Manly and coach Trent Barrett continues. Picture: AAP
Barrett resigned last month but is contracted to serve another 12 months.
He was expected to negotiate his departure in the off-season but that end could be more abrupt if Manly’s lawyers determine Barrett’s comments brought the club into disrepute.
The divide between Barrett and Manly’s owners, the Penn family, is now irreparable.
The Sea Eagles won’t bother summoning Barrett to a board meeting but instead go through their lawyers.
“He will now have to justify why his employment contract shouldn’t be ripped up,” a source said. “Imagine if you went public and bagged your own company.”
If Barrett is dismissed, it could throw into question any payout from the remaining 11 months of his contract.
The Sunday Telegraph reported Barrett had to bring his own backyard furniture to use in the team’s common room and his own desk for his Narrabeen office.
“To try and blame the facilities is embarrassing,” the source said.
Trent Barrett is contracted to serve another 12 months. Picture: AAP
Manly will argue that
owner Scott Penn never bagged Barrett during an interview with The Daily Telegraph last week.
“We have a team with a club struggling to keep pace with the professional needs of players to allow them to compete at the highest level,” Barrett told The Sunday Telegraph.
“I have complained on and off ever since I got there.
“It’s my job and responsibility to push the club to provide the best environment and staff we possibly can for our players.
“I want them to be successful. I want our players to be proud of how our club operates in every department.
“I want the Trbojevic brothers (Jake and Tom) to go into NSW camp and know that our club provides the same professional working environment to the other clubs and be proud of it.
“This isn’t about me, it’s about moving this club forward and ensuring its future.”
Penn could not be reached for comment yesterday.
