I suggest buying today's RLW as there is a great story on Kieran Foran and he has some great things to day about Tooves.
A small part: Manly had made eight finals series in a row and won two premierships when'd Halser left for the Bulldogs at the end of 2011.
It was a difficult time for Foran, so much so that he eventually dined with Hasler to tell him up-front of his decision to re-sign with Manly and not link with Cnaterbury.
"It was tough for me and all the boys" Foran concedes. "When I came into first grade in 2009 ..... It was all Des Hasler and the Manly Sea Eagles. Dessie was what Manly was. When he left it was such a shock, because I never thought he'd ever go".
"But there wouldn't have been a better bloke in the world than Geoff to take over. Everyone was questioning how the club would go on, because Dessie had such a massive influence over all those years. But Tooves had been doing his apprenticeship and slowly, quietly taking everything in. Once Dessie left, he was able to slot straight in and he has done an incredible job considering the circumstances. He is just going from strength to strength as a coach.
"There is not a more passionate bloke. When you hear him talknabout Manly, he just bleeds it.... And that rubs off on us players."
"When he is giving you his pump-up speeches before games , we aren't looking at him thinking it is all just talk. Tooves was one of the toughest players to lace a boot and we all draw inspiration from that. We all love playing for him and we want to get the wins for him".
The lure to join Hasler may have been strong but Foran is adamant he made the right decision.
"I was going back and forth on it. I was all over the shop and wasn't sure where I really wanted to be", he admits. "But when I weighed everything up it came down to how tight I was with the boys."
" You ask any of the Manly players and they will say that the boys are best of mates and it is fair dinkum true. We spend more time with one another than we do our own families."
"I've been pretty fortunate to be involved with a great club like Manly and have a successful team around me. I've been lucky enough to win a premiership already and to keep playing with so many great guys at the club".