I saw a bit in the herald this morning that reminded me of the 'bad old' days of Mighty Eagles and One Eyed Eagle that led to this website being commenced as Alternate Eagles. It followed the disgraceful loss to the Panthers just three years ago. Not that the sober Hasler ever needed it, but a trip out west in 2004, his first year as coach at Manly, probably blew away any shreds of nostalgia. Manly copped their worst loss: 72-12. Hasler apologised to the fans - "It was a disaster … they blew us off the park" - but didn't drop his bundle. Nor did he drop a player (half a dozen remain in the Manly side today), instead calling his troops to Brookvale at 8 o'clock the next morning to watch the game again. It reeked of Clockwork Orange but it worked: eight days later Manly beat the Knights 48-10. In the wake of the Penrith capitulation, Delmege, who has poured millions into the club, wanted answers. He insists he didn't reach for the pistol but plenty were calling for Hasler's head. If that was the lowest point in his four-year tenure,
Jye didn't play in that game. But I recall Mark Lennon played 5 mins of fullback before injuring himself trying to tackle. Wesser. That set the platform for that fine evening
