NRL 2022: Des Hasler must accept change or his time at Sea Eagles is finished

They finished in the top four in 2021 but it’s all come crashing down for Des Hasler and Manly this year — read how it all unfolded and what comes next.

Des Hasler will have to accept a raft of changes placed upon on him or risk having coached his last game at the Sea Eagles.

Manly management and Hasler are expected to meet at some stage this week with Hasler’s future now in the crosshairs after the Sea Eagles slumped to their seventh consecutive defeat with a loss to the lowly ranked Bulldogs on Friday night.

It is understood the meeting will dictate if Hasler remains in charge with suggestions he has lost the support of the club’s senior management. Hasler can either accept the recommended changes or those close to him have indicated he may elect to quit the club despite having 12 months left on his contract.

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Is Des Hasler on borrowed time at the Sea Eagles? Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Sea Eagles want to turn over Hasler’s coaching and support staff putting the likes of assistant coaches Michael Monaghan and Chad Randall plus Hasler’s long-term confidantes Noel Cleal and Don Singe are among those in the firing line.

It is understood Randall is close to joining the Bulldogs as part of Cameron Ciraldo’s new-look coaching staff.

New club boss Tony Mestrov made it clear change was inevitable.

“Because of the team performance, we have to be open to change,” Mestrov said. “If I came in and we were finishing sixth, I don’t think there would be the leverage to make change. But everything has been fast-tracked because of the performances.

“The owners want what I want – to have a successful football club, be financially better off and deliver what the fans and board want, which is a successful football team.

“The dynamics are not working at the moment and that means decisions have to be made. I wouldn’t call it a review. There won’t be a review. There will be discussions about how we can improve. I don’t think it is anything other than that. But we have to do something because the end to this season has been disappointing.”

The Sea Eagles are a club at the crossroads with political infighting among some officials and a split in the player ranks threatening to tear the club apart.

Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans reacts at full time after losing to the Canterbury Bulldogs. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Hasler has his own frustrations with a front office who have turned over club bosses and he has felt a lack of support. Manly’s crippling injury run has contributed to their dramatic slump which coincided with the rainbow jersey debacle – with the club having not won a match since then.

Hasler has been angling for a contract extension but that has so far fallen on deaf ears. The team’s failure to push inside the top six this year has stopped him from gaining an automatic contract for 2024.

Owner Scott Penn has returned to Sydney from his New York base to deal with the issues. Hasler and Penn still have a testy relationship dating back to Hasler’s first ugly break-up with the club when he joined the Bulldogs in 2012.

There is a push from some within the club to hand more power to emerging coach Steve Hales who enjoys some strong support among some of the club’s youngsters.

Originally published as NRL 2022: Des Hasler must accept change or his time at Sea Eagles is finished