Tony Mestrov, new CEO

[Highflier]

Agree entirely. But that's the social media world we live in now mate. Idiots propagating BS through various channels (this one included) and before you know it, things that are just plainly false are bandied about as FACT. It happens in every walk of life and Rugby League is just one of them - and actually, one of the worst. All we can hope is that calm heads in the club are telling the group (especially the younger ones) to focus on what goes on inside the '4 walls', ignore the 'noise' (bullSh1t) coming from outside and work hard to get our next win. Simple. And I'm fairly confident that would be happening.

yes I even heard yesterday that flogger James Hooper say that Josh was not just on 800k but 800k PLUS ,
I really hate myself for listening to those idiots ,and in fact a little bit of my soul dies every time I do

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Just nice to wish that if another clean out is on, it is a full one. Where is Hugh Jackman when u need him

Jackman's involvement would be nice. Instead, we're left with Scott Penn, who's more of a Hugh Janus…

 

[bob dylan]

How long will Mestrov last.

My guess he will be gone by 1 July.

Pushed or quits is the only question.

 

[Nordburg]

How long will Mestrov last.

My guess he will be gone by 1 July.

Pushed or quits is the only question.

Why do you think Mestrov will be gone by July 1?You don’t think a lot of the off field events were part of Mestrov’s remit,assigned by Penn?First task was to remove Des,done

 

[bob dylan]

Why do you think Mestrov will be gone by July 1?You don’t think a lot of the off field events were part of Mestrov’s remit,assigned by Penn?First task was to remove Des,done

He has a career to worry about.

Can't be seen to be a part of an organisation as it crashes and burns, if that's what is happening.

If the wheels do fall off Mr Fluffy will punt him quick smart.

Things look grim st the moment, whether they are as bad as it seems will he known soon enough.

 

[Shoe1]

I think mestrov is making all the right moves Bob.

 

[Rocky]

Mestrov knew what he was up for when he took the job. And pretty obvious Penn gave him the mandate to get rid of Des and make other hard decisions.

Would be shocked if he walked away or got pushed.

This is easy stuff compared to rehabilitating the greyhound industry and its image.

 

[ALinda]

An article titled 'Mestrov moving Manly' by Adam Lucius in the August issue of "Peninsular Living" magazine which some may find interesting:

"One year into the job, Sea Eagles chief and Bayview local Tony Mestrov wants to bring back the love of Manly.

Back in the day, every time Tony Mestrov saw a kid walking around the Northern Beaches in a football kit that wasn't maroon and white, it would eat away at him. Following the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles was a religion when he was growing up in Mona Vale and attending Brookvale's St Augustine's College - just a 40-20 kick away from 4 Pines Park.
"Everyone in the area once supported Manly," the freshly minted Sea Eagles chief executive office (CEO) tells Peninsular Living Pittwater from his office overlooking Brookie Oval. "I'd see kids walking around in different clubs' colours - or a different sport altogether - and wonder where that love for Manly went. "One of my aims is to restore what we had back then."
Mestrov played soccer until he was 15, but there was never any real doubt where his real passion - and destiny - lay. "I hadn't made any rep sides, but I knew I wanted to play first grade for Manly," he says.
"I left school in 1987, made Jersey Flegg (junior reps) in 1988, and the next year I played under 21's before debuting in first grade in 1990." Old school-mates erected a makeshift "Tony Mestrov Stand" on the Brookie Hill to mark the occasion, and a long career at the Sea Eagles appeared certain.
But a deilitating illness, the arrival of some big-name recruits, and a lust for new experiences limited the young prop's stay to just 17 games. Mestrov then enjoyed two successful seasons at South Sydney before heading to England, where he spent the next seven years playing for the London Broncos (in two separate stints) and the famous Wigan club.
"It was pretty limited back here. You'd finish the season, have a few weeks off and then be back into training. That was boring for me," Mestrov recalls.
"I'd never travelled, but was always looking outwardly. Travel opened my eyes. I met different people from different countries and walks of life. I realised there was more to life than football. I wanted to travel more and seek more knowledge, and I think that helped in my CEO life later." Only problem was, Mestrov didn't immediately know how to get to his ultimate destination.
He was employed in sales at the Sea Eagles and Radio 2GB when he returned from England, but admitted his work career, at that stage, was 'pretty under-whelming'. Then came a left-field opportunity that set him on a path in sports administration.
Hockey NSW was conducting a root and branch overhaul of the sport and took a gamble on Mestrov being the man to deliver that change. A return to rugby league as chief operating officer with Gold Coast followed before the biggest of all challenges - heading up Greyhound Racing NSW.
The sport had been abolished by the State Government following a damning report on greyhound welfare, before being given a stay of execution on tight new regulations. "It was a really tough but successful five years," Mestrov says. "The biggest thing I learned is that being a CEO isn't a very popular job. You have to make some tough decisions."
The 53-year-old, who lives at Bayview with wife Alex and daughter Bella, has not resiled from those tough calls at Manly. Des Hasler was removed as first grade coach amid much acrimony and others shuffled on - and new faces brought in - to facilitate change at every level.
"All my decisions have been made in the best interest of the club, not me personally," Mestrov promises. "It was all about setting a culture to take the organisation forward and also improving our competency in a lot of areas. "That's all the way from the boardroom to the boot room."

 

[Ryan]

What positives have we seen since Mestrov has taken over.

New stability within the club?

No longer a split in the playing group due to open and honest communication?

A great working relationship with Des?

Strategic coaching staff appointments?

Smart player recruitment for 2023 and beyond?


Or Being a lapdog to whatever Penn says?

Asking for a friend @Ryan

Oooooof, this didn't age well, did it mate hahahahahaha

 

[Ryan]

An article titled 'Mestrov moving Manly' by Adam Lucius in the August issue of "Peninsular Living" magazine which some may find interesting:

"One year into the job, Sea Eagles chief and Bayview local Tony Mestrov wants to bring back the love of Manly.

Back in the day, every time Tony Mestrov saw a kid walking around the Northern Beaches in a football kit that wasn't maroon and white, it would eat away at him. Following the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles was a religion when he was growing up in Mona Vale and attending Brookvale's St Augustine's College - just a 40-20 kick away from 4 Pines Park.
"Everyone in the area once supported Manly," the freshly minted Sea Eagles chief executive office (CEO) tells Peninsular Living Pittwater from his office overlooking Brookie Oval. "I'd see kids walking around in different clubs' colours - or a different sport altogether - and wonder where that love for Manly went. "One of my aims is to restore what we had back then."
Mestrov played soccer until he was 15, but there was never any real doubt where his real passion - and destiny - lay. "I hadn't made any rep sides, but I knew I wanted to play first grade for Manly," he says.
"I left school in 1987, made Jersey Flegg (junior reps) in 1988, and the next year I played under 21's before debuting in first grade in 1990." Old school-mates erected a makeshift "Tony Mestrov Stand" on the Brookie Hill to mark the occasion, and a long career at the Sea Eagles appeared certain.
But a deilitating illness, the arrival of some big-name recruits, and a lust for new experiences limited the young prop's stay to just 17 games. Mestrov then enjoyed two successful seasons at South Sydney before heading to England, where he spent the next seven years playing for the London Broncos (in two separate stints) and the famous Wigan club.
"It was pretty limited back here. You'd finish the season, have a few weeks off and then be back into training. That was boring for me," Mestrov recalls.
"I'd never travelled, but was always looking outwardly. Travel opened my eyes. I met different people from different countries and walks of life. I realised there was more to life than football. I wanted to travel more and seek more knowledge, and I think that helped in my CEO life later." Only problem was, Mestrov didn't immediately know how to get to his ultimate destination.
He was employed in sales at the Sea Eagles and Radio 2GB when he returned from England, but admitted his work career, at that stage, was 'pretty under-whelming'. Then came a left-field opportunity that set him on a path in sports administration.
Hockey NSW was conducting a root and branch overhaul of the sport and took a gamble on Mestrov being the man to deliver that change. A return to rugby league as chief operating officer with Gold Coast followed before the biggest of all challenges - heading up Greyhound Racing NSW.
The sport had been abolished by the State Government following a damning report on greyhound welfare, before being given a stay of execution on tight new regulations. "It was a really tough but successful five years," Mestrov says. "The biggest thing I learned is that being a CEO isn't a very popular job. You have to make some tough decisions."
The 53-year-old, who lives at Bayview with wife Alex and daughter Bella, has not resiled from those tough calls at Manly. Des Hasler was removed as first grade coach amid much acrimony and others shuffled on - and new faces brought in - to facilitate change at every level.
"All my decisions have been made in the best interest of the club, not me personally," Mestrov promises. "It was all about setting a culture to take the organisation forward and also improving our competency in a lot of areas. "That's all the way from the boardroom to the boot room."

On a personal level, I've never, and I mean ever been more.disconnected from the club. My kids wouldn't know what colours Manly wear and couldn't name one player now. For the first time in forever, I'm choosing Avalanche / Chelsea membership over Manly (and I was a Jane Try Stand season ticket holder and member.)

We will likely win the same amount of games as Des won last season before being axed, finishing the year with 4 wins from 19 games (and I get there's a mass of excuses , like there were last year).

The team is so un-interesting, un-enjoyable, uninspiring and boring to watch, it's a chore sitting through 80 minutes. Many of the players are outright unlikable (Aloiai and others , looking at you). I won't be watching the last two games - no point.

Going to next year, the backline is exciting no doubts. But it's the same crap in the forwards that has lead us to a decade of mediocrity. No ex-fsctor, spark or speed from dummy half. Slow, lazy, over weight, lumbering, under performing, no leg speed, no desire forwards - that unlock the skilled backline.

We still have way too many constantly rehabbing players like Turbo, Lawton, Aloiai, Schuster and others who spend most of their time as observers rather than partakers.

We've also used up cap space giving jobs to the boys rather than focusing on winning a title with every cent available to maximise our return on investment.

We have a passive owner who's interests lay elsewhere, disgusting recruitment, and a CEO and Coach who are deluded when considering where our team is presently at. I mean, ****, we have one coach spending most of his time improving another team and getting into tug-of-wars over next season's coaching staff with his current employer! That's messed up.

A lot of our fanbase has given up. They go into games (or consider our end of season finish) with very low expectations , so resign themselves to praising losses and jeez, there have been MANY - since the pride jersey winning only 20 something percent of our games, yet many expect positivity to be falsely rolled out to placate their tender hearts.

All this leads to apathy. I'm expecting a huge drop in memberships, gate numbers and buy in next season (with **** house recruitment evident). I'm shocked at how when Cuzzo puts something from a big club up on Twitter, he gets no replies. If Chelsea / AVS put something up, they get literally thousands of responses. And it never used to be that dead for us, something has happened. I personally think people are done.

Has Mestrov done a good job? There's still infighting , media leaks, the teams stagnated in mediocrity, the outlook is average, and we are getting mired with one player agent who's bog average players almost sunk The Broncos before Ben Ikin was brought in to fix the joint.

2/10

 

[1947]

The rot starts at the top.

 

[MW66]

Lets wait and see. Some of his changes have been needed albeit unpopular. He is not afraid to make tough decisions. A lot agreed Des had to go but Siebold certainly not been a raging success so far. Not sure where player retention sits but this is certainly a negative.

 

[The Bandit]

I am genuinely perplexed how any CEO could tolerate the leader of the rainbow boycott to be still at the club. Furthermore how he could approve an 800k plus extension to for a player who has underperformed for two years.

 

[The Who]

I am genuinely perplexed how any CEO could tolerate the leader of the rainbow boycott to be still at the club. Furthermore how he could approve an 800k plus extension to for a player who has underperformed for two years.

Was he in charge when Rainbowgate occurred?
From arm's length I believe he has done a good job.

 

[Ryan]

Was he in charge when Rainbowgate occurred?
From arm's length I believe he has done a good job.

What's your basis for this?

1. Ladder position? Aren't we going to end up 1 spot worse than last season or at best even?

2. Is our roster any better? Remember, we lost Foz, Walker, Davey, Marty and others and have brought in Woods, Condon, Johns and others.

3. No further upgrades to Brooky on the horizon? Our stadium looks like Lego from many different eras mixed together.

4. Are our coaching staff an improvement? One of them is openly white anting us as we speak. We still don't have a replacement with the procrastination.

5. I'm seeing much less social media engagement. Maybe it's a me thing, but people don't even bother to reply to official tweets and things now.

6. We've won just 6 of 16 games to finish the season. 10 in our last 30 since the pride jersey event.

7. People seem so disconnected, and expectations from fans are appallingly low now.

I'm honestly asking, what's your basis that "he has done a good job"?

 

[BOZO]

An article titled 'Mestrov moving Manly' by Adam Lucius in the August issue of "Peninsular Living" magazine which some may find interesting:

Thank you for that not so moving Mestrov Moving Manly article @ALinda

Big Mestrov made all those Big Brave Changes and it seems Manly have not moved at all

We remain out of the top 8 , and on the bottom of the table with a bullet in the head and out of finals contention

The Art of Winning Manly people over is essentially Manly Winning and thriving into the finals

How Great though Art
The Great Manly Winner Ken Arthurson

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Big Mestrov made all those Big Brave Changes and it seems Manly have not moved at all

Wrong, Manly is on track to end with 11 wins 1 draw and 12 losses from 24 games, which is movement - and in a positive direction - compared with 9 wins and 15 losses from 24 games last year.

We remain out of the top 8 , and on the bottom of the table with a bullet in the head and out of finals contention

Uh, Manly missed the finals but is not on the bottom of the table

How Great though Art
The Great Manly Winner Ken Arthurson

You consider 'Big Mestrov' a flop because Manly failed to make the finals this year? No doubt you also consider Arko a flop because the year he took over in charge of Manly ... they failed to make the finals.
I don't consider Arko a flop, but you're entitled to your view. Not entitled to make up facts though.

 

[Rocky]

What's your basis for this?

1. Ladder position? Aren't we going to end up 1 spot worse than last season or at best even?

2. Is our roster any better? Remember, we lost Foz, Walker, Davey, Marty and others and have brought in Woods, Condon, Johns and others.

3. No further upgrades to Brooky on the horizon? Our stadium looks like Lego from many different eras mixed together.

4. Are our coaching staff an improvement? One of them is openly white anting us as we speak. We still don't have a replacement with the procrastination.

5. I'm seeing much less social media engagement. Maybe it's a me thing, but people don't even bother to reply to official tweets and things now.

6. We've won just 6 of 16 games to finish the season. 10 in our last 30 since the pride jersey event.

7. People seem so disconnected, and expectations from fans are appallingly low now.

I'm honestly asking, what's your basis that "he has done a good job"?

I'm not comfortable where we are right now but I think Mestrov is at least doing something. Some are head-scratching ( Schu extension and letting Fainus walk), but others like the Brooks signing seem really sound business.

It makes it really hard for Manly as a fit Tom T probably gets us into the 8 and an injured one means we miss the finals right now. That in itself can be the difference between an "acceptable season" and a fail like this year has turned out to be.

Often i think it underestimated how long it can take to turn things around. A lot of people on here seem to think you can just "move on" players. It isn't as simple as that and often you have to wait until the bad mistakes roll off.

Look at the bulldogs. A lot on here were saying how good they have been in signing big names and getting the most promising coach in the game. Right now, they are the worst team in the comp.

In terms of the other things like fan engagement and Brookvale oval etc. it sounds like you are probably on the money.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

The team is so un-interesting, un-enjoyable, uninspiring and boring to watch, it's a chore sitting through 80 minutes

I’ll just reply to this part, and it is the part I don’t get or agree with at all

There have been a couple of really dull games, but it’s hardly a team that is taking 5 one out runs and then kicking on the last. They’ve been chancing their arm from inside our own 20, kicking early in the tackle count for the fast guys etc.

Whether it is successful or not it up for debate, as at times this approach has really cost us, but they aren’t going out there and playing a boring brand of footy imo

 

[mickqld]

What positives have we seen since Mestrov has taken over.

New stability within the club?

No longer a split in the playing group due to open and honest communication?

A great working relationship with Des?

Strategic coaching staff appointments?

Smart player recruitment for 2023 and beyond?


Or Being a lapdog to whatever Penn says?

Asking for a friend @Ryan

Hmmm
1. Stability - Well at least no Rainbow gate but the Schuster , Fainu, Flanagan issues aren't exactly a rock.
2. Split players - yeah jury still out there. Don't really think it's one big happy family.
3. Des - well gooooone. Seibold - jury still out on him.
4. Strategic staff- Flanagan checked out for the goons months ago.
5. Player recruitment- Woods, Condon , Johns, Arthur , Paulo, Taulau . Not exactly top shelf is it. Brooks well could be great, could be disaster. Lodge was great for 2 games but if he's been signed on a big contract prior to injury and not announced it will be open slather character assassination.
6. Penn lapdog - yes.

I'd give him a C minus for this year.