NRL 2023: Daly Cherry-Evans praises new Gold Coast Titans coach Des Hasler
Maroons star Daly Cherry-Evans has praised Des Hasler’s Gold Coast resurrection, backing the former Manly coach to finally get the best out of Titans players.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Maroons star Daly Cherry-Evans has praised Des Hasler’s Gold Coast resurrection as Gorden Tallis said concerns over Justin Holbrook’s NRL premiership credentials led to his Titans demise.
Hasler will revive his 458-game NRL coaching career on the Gold Coast next year following the sudden sacking of Holbrook on Thursday.
The Titans brought a swift end to Holbrook’s three-and-a-half season reign on the Gold Coast, terminating him immediately after securing Hasler on a three-year deal following clandestine meetings over the past fortnight.
While the Titans are sitting ninth on the ladder, a 37.8 per cent winning record (31 wins, 51 losses) from 82 games, and worrying defensive statistics, were ultimately Holbrook’s downfall.
And for the first time in the club’s 16-year history, the Titans have appointed a proven NRL premiership-winning coach in Hasler.
Hasler, 62, piloted Manly to the 2008 and 2011 NRL titles and has featured in five grand finals with the Sea Eagles and Canterbury.
He handed Cherry-Evans his NRL debut in 2011 and the Manly and Maroons captain said Hasler was not a spent force.
“Des was great for me at the start of my career. He helped me get a clear understanding of my role for the team which is what you need early on, because at times your head is spinning,” Cherry-Evans said.
“Later in my career he was unreal at empowering me to play to my strengths but also reminding me that there was also improvement left in my game.
“I’ve always admired Des’s coaching style. He cares deeply about his players and is extremely competitive, which is an awesome combination.”
Holbrook was blindsided by his knifing after being summoned to a 9am meeting with CEO Steve Mitchell on Thursday, just three days before Sunday’s Broncos-Titans derby at Suncorp Stadium.
Performance clauses in his contract, which didn’t expire until the end of 2024, are believed to have played a factor in Holbrook’s dismissal.
Holbrook took over the Titans following the club’s 2019 wooden spoon season under Garth Brennan.
He took them to ninth in 2020 and a first week finals loss in 2021, but they crashed to a bottom four finish last year and he was close to being sacked.
After some off-season personnel changes, the Titans gave Holbrook a chance to turn things around this year, but club powerbrokers had not seen enough improvement and struck while Hasler was available following his sacking from Manly last year.
Maroons great Tallis, a Titans ambassador whose wife Jemma Elder sits on the club’s board, said Holbrook may have lacked the premiership punch Gold Coast was seeking.
“I thought he was safe as well, but the more you look at it, was this Titans team ever going to win a grand final under Justin? If you ask yourself that question, I would say no,” Tallis said on NRL360.
“Dessie Hasler … five grand finals, two premierships. What he will bring is resilience. Dessie is the ultimate competitor and that’s what they need. The Titans need a new voice.
“I got a phone call (on Thursday) from the chairman (Dennis Watt) and I missed it. Maybe he was breaking the news to me that Dessie was going to be the coach.”
Assistant coach Jim Lenihan will replace Holbrook as caretaker coach for the remainder of the 2023 season before Hasler arrives.
HOW TITANS KEPT ONE OF NRL’S BIGGEST EVER SECRETS UNDER WRAPS
—David Riccio
One of the best kept secrets in the history of rugby league began on the morning of June 8.
I know the date because it was also the day News Corp broke news that former Manly coach Des Hasler had informed his management not to pursue the vacant St George Illawarra head coaching role.
Only now, do we know why.
It was on that Thursday - 14-days ago - that Titans CEO Steve Mitchell and chair Dennis Watt made contact with Hasler’s respected manager George Mimis.
The Titans leaders told Mimis they were flying to Sydney to meet him.
Mimis will later tell Hasler it was one of the most professional phone calls, which was layered with strategy, belief and respect for the two-time premiership winner, that he had fielded.
MAL, GORDIE DIDN’T KNOW
The entire Titans boardroom were across the approach to Hasler.
Yet nobody flinched.
Not even Jemma Elder, a passionate Titans director, resisted by confiding in her husband, Fox Sports commentator Gorden Tallis, about the stealth-like pitch to Hasler.
Big Gordie only began to learn of the potential for change last weekend.
Also without a hint was Titans senior advisor Mel Meninga, who only found out when the press did.
Meninga has stated he feels ostracised by the club for being left in the dark and is considering his ongoing role with the club.
“I didn’t know till today, obviously a little disappointing being a senior advisor there,” Meninga told SEN.
“I don’t know how I feel about it.
“I’ve got a bit of thinking to do about what I do in the future — I don’t envisage being part of the club moving forward.”
After meeting with Mimis, Mitchell and Watt organised a follow-up meeting with Hasler for the first time last weekend.
Hasler never flew to the Gold Coast. The Titans knew what they wanted and so they came directly to him.
It took the Titans management two weeks without anyone outside the four walls of the board knowing to do what the noisy Dragons took four months to achieve.
WHY HASLER?
The appointment of Hasler adds instant credibility to a club that has missed the finals on 12 occasions in the past 17-seasons.
He is the first coach in the Titans history that has been appointed with a proven model of premiership success.
It shows the club is serious about finally usurping Big Brother, the Brisbane Broncos, of whom they face this Sunday.
The Titans are tired of being the also-rans. They want to win premierships. Sacked coach Justin Holbrook wasn’t doing a bad job.
He just didn’t have what the board believed was premiership know-how.
They want more accountability after losses.
Under Hasler, they’ll get it.
BEN HUNT
The appointment of Hasler puts the Titans in the box seat to pinch Hunt, if he’s successful in obtaining a release from the Dragons.
Hunt has made it clear his priority is to return home for family reasons to Queensland.
A former champion playmaker himself, Hasler has a rich history of working with halves, including Jamie Lyon, Matt Orford, Daly Cherry-Evans, Kieran Foran and Trent Hodkinson.
Current Titans halves Tanah Boyd and Kieran Foran still have 2024 on-contract.
With 2024 likely to be Foran’s final season, would the Dragons entertain swapping Hunt for Boyd?
Hasler has proven he’s not afraid to make a tough roster call. Moving on one of the Titans current halves before the expiration of their contract to lure Hunt could be next.
NRL star’s blunt reality as exit looms
An NRL star has spoken out for the first time over his contract situation as he confirmed his club are not interested in re-signing him.
Aussies run riot in PNG demolition job
An Australian team bursting full of young NRL stars has proven far too strong for PNG in an annual clash against the PM’s XIII.