The fans deserve answers with Manly’s Jackson Hastings circus
TRENT Barrett must end the Jackson Hastings circus one way or another, as the ongoing drama threatens to swallow Manly’s season.
Sea Eagles
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sea Eagles. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AT 4pm on Tuesday, we’ll learn if Jackson Hastings is a better five-eighth option for Manly than Mickey Mouse.
Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett made the quip after his side was embarrassed by a Newcastle side o Friday without their highest-paid player.
“If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,’’ a clearly fed-up Barrett said.
But this isn’t a joke. This is what it has come to at Brookvale.
A travelling circus which includes a salary cap scandal under the Big Top and a Haunted House of breach notices and injured bodies.
A great club is in disarray.
It’s lacking authority, leadership and sheer common sense, which is no more evident than Barrett being chosen to answer questions on why Hastings is on the outer.
As soon as this became a potentially serious welfare or legal issue, a footy coach needs to step aside.
The great Ken Arthurson would be shaking his head.
Lyall Gorman is the CEO of Manly.
Within the game, it’s known that what he lacks in commercial nous he makes up for his ability to spin a negative headline into a positive.
At his peak during his tenure at Cronulla, he flat-batted, blocked and carted questions from the media on everything from ASADA to Ben Barba, without flinching.
Fans and members were part of his ‘pillars’ to the club’s success. Player retention, sponsor announcements and fan signing sessions were emailed directly to members.
So why not now? Why not an ounce of transparency on a matter so divisive and when Manly fans deserve it most?
CLEARED: No eye gouge from DCE
EXILE: Hastings desperate for one more chance
Either Gorman or owner Scott Penn need to stop the caravans from circling before they reach The Spit again this week.
Enough is enough.
If Hastings is good enough to replace injured five-eighth Lachlan Croker — who is gone for the season — against the Roosters next Sunday, well then Manly fans and members shouldn’t have to wait until team-list Tuesday.
They should be told today.
But if Hastings isn’t good enough for selection, if he’s off the pace, fragile in defence or that Dylan Walker is “our better option, at this stage” then say it.
Tell your fans the truth and cut the dribble.
Leave that for Donald Duck.