Sport Confidential: Brett Morris to coach Roosters’ NSW Cup team as club overhauls staff
After a poor season by their standards, the Roosters have undertaken a major shake-up of the club’s off-field staff with Brett Morris scoring a lead role.
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Brett Morris will be handed his first head coaching role with the ex-Kangaroos flyer taking charge of the Roosters NSW Cup team as part of a major shake-up of the club’s off field staff.
Morris has been working alongside Trent Robinson following the former winger’s retirement in 2021.
Other changes to the Roosters include the return of Hayden Knowles.
The long-term performance manager will help in a range of roles while the Roosters have hired Simon Jones to be their new head of performance.
Jones has a long career in rugby where he has worked with the All Blacks and Japanese national teams.
More recently he spent four seasons as head of athletic performance with Super Rugby club Highlanders.
The Roosters also have former Titans mentor Justin Holbrook joining their coaching staff.
TITLE-WINNER PROMOTED AT PANTHERS
Former Tigers premiership winner Shane Elford will become Penrith’s new head of football come November 1.
Elford, who was part of the Tigers 2005 premiership winning team, has been a key part of Penrith’s success in recent years. He has had a hands-on role with the side as part of the athletic performance team and has been a blue-shirt trainer on game-day.
Elford had two stints as a player at the Panthers – either side of three seasons he spent at the Tigers – playing a combined 148 games for both clubs before retiring at the end of 2010. He then transitioned into an off-field role with the Panthers starting in welfare and education.
BEARS REPLACE JASON TAYLOR
North Sydney have wasted little time finding a replacement for Jason Taylor after deciding to promote assistant Pat Weisner into the top job.
Wesiner will coach the Bears’ new-look NSW Cup side after Taylor’s decision to join Canterbury as an assistant coach.
The Bears will link up with the Storm as their feeder club next year fresh from a successful season which saw them lose the reserve grade grand final to South Sydney.
The Bears enjoyed a boost in members, crowds and junior league numbers. Weisner played in the Super League and also represented Ireland before returning to Australia.
HUNI RELAUNCHES CAREER IN MEXICO
The great heavyweight hope for Australian boxing is ready to relaunch his career not far from the golden sands of Cancun beach in Mexico.
Justis Huni hasn’t fought for nearly a year due to a succession of injuries but he will make his return to the ring against American Andrew ‘The Beast’ Tabiti on October 29 in Mexico in just over a week.
The pair were meant to meet in June but an ankle injury forced Huni to postpone. Huni is now back to full fitness and flew out last week to prepare for the fight against the hard-hitting Tahiti, who has lost only once in his 21-fight career.
It’s another step up for the 24-year-old Huni, who is yet to lose through seven fights as a pro and will make his first appearance since joining the stable of promoter Eddie Hearn, who counts heavyweight Anthony Joshua among his fighters.
NO LIMIT GRAB GLOBAL RECOGNITION
No Limit Boxing has been recognised by the World Boxing Organisation for their efforts in promoting the sport. The WBO held their annual congress recently and the No Limit boys were given special recognition among the next era of world promoters.
It comes after No Limit promoted five world title fights in 2023, the latest being Tim Tszyu’s big win over Brian Mendoza last weekend.
WIDDOP CALLS TIME ON CAREER
Former St George Illawarra captain Gareth Widdop has retired from rugby league. Widdop, played the last of his 195 NRL games in 2019, has spent the past four years in the Super League having always wanted to return home to finish his career. He won a grand final with the Storm in 2012.
HASLER’S MONSTER MANLY DEAL REVEALED
Des Hasler’s multimillion-dollar contract with the Sea Eagles can be revealed for the first time as the ugly court battle with his former club threatens to lift the veil on how one of the most influential coaches of the modern era conducted his business.
Sport Confidential can reveal Hasler stood to receive a base salary of $720,000 in 2023 and the same amount in 2024, as well as ambassador fee and bonuses contingent on team performance.
It is understood the ambassador role was worth about $200,000 a season, with the money paid into a business that was co-owned by Hasler and his wife.
In Hasler’s first season back at the club in 2021 his base salary was $680,000 after the Sea Eagles hired the premiership winning mentor following a messy exit from Canterbury.
Elite coaches generally earn at least $1 million a season – Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy is believed to be on $1.5 million – which means Hasler’s base salary was at the lower end of the scale.
While his base salary was low, documents filed with the Supreme Court as part of his legal case against Manly reveal that an undisclosed ambassador fee was to be paid into a company he shared with his wife prior to his axing by the club.
This masthead understands that the fee was up to $200,000 a season. The two parties start their legal battle on Friday in what could reveal further intimate details of the inner-workings of Hasler and the Sea Eagles.
Manly have threatened to subpoena phone records, email and text messages from Hasler and other key stakeholders.
Hasler was sacked before he had the chance to begin the 2023 season after the club missed the finals.
He was entitled to a lump-sum payment of half his base pay plus ambassador fee as part of his termination but he is claiming he missed the chance to earn an extension because the club’s season fell apart after the rainbow jersey debacle.
Hasler has since landed on his feet by securing a job at the Gold Coast but he hasn’t forgotten the way things ended at Manly as his case begins in the Supreme Court on Friday.
He is expected to earn more than $1 million a season at the Titans. In documents lodged with the Supreme Court, Manly dismissed claims the rainbow jersey debacle cost Hasler the chance to lead the club to the finals, pointing out there were other issues at play.
In their response to Hasler’s claims, they say that the team was already in ninth position heading into the game against the Sydney Roosters when players sat out in protest over the jersey.
They added that the team had to win most of their games – some against teams they had lost to previously that year – to have a finals shot, had access to the seven Rainbow players for the rest of the season, and were without their star player Tom Trbojevic.
They also outline that Hasler was given the option in the days prior to the clash against the Roosters to revert back to the club’s traditional home jersey.
They will claim that Hasler insisted they stick with the rainbow kit.
Manly also suggested Hasler repudiated his own contract on October 17 via a letter from his solicitor Daniel McGirr to the club.
Manly claim that as a result of that letter, they accepted his resignation and terminated the coaching contract with a letter of their own three days later.
The documents also state that Manly included five strict parameters to enable Hasler to coach in 2023.
While those details were not revealed it is understood they included the club adopting a succession plan and Hasler not controlling recruitment decisions.
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Originally published as Sport Confidential: Brett Morris to coach Roosters’ NSW Cup team as club overhauls staff
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