NRL news: Des Hasler still knows how to work his magic at Manly Sea Eagles | Weekend Read
Des Hasler’s future at Manly has been under the microscope in recent weeks — but the Sea Eagles coach still has his staunch supporters.
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Dylan Walker reckons Des Hasler has picked him up from the cop shop on two occasions.
“It is not my most glamorous moment but he has sat there twice,” Walker said.
“Once I think was when I had only met him once before. It shows the character of him. He even drove me all the way to my mum’s (house) in Botany.
“Not far, but a decent leap. I remember saying thank you. He was like that’s alright mate. He has looked after me.
“I tried to repay him back on the football field and this year probably hasn’t been the greatest. I have admiration for him until the cows come home.”
Walker will make his final appearance for Manly at 4 Pines Park on Saturday afternoon, having agreed to a lucrative deal to cross the ditch and join the Warriors next season.
Walker, as much as anyone, is a testament to the magic of Hasler. He arrived on Sydney’s northern beaches with his career at a crossroads, and there were times during his stay when he threatened to throw it all away.
Hasler was always there, standing by him. He stood tallest during Walker’s darkest days, challenging him to be a better man.
He saved the tongue lashings for others, cognisant that the smartest way to get the best out of Walker was to wrap an arm round him.
“He hasn’t tried to give me any wisdom, just thrown an arm around my shoulder,” Walker said.
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“When we got knocked out on the Sunny Coast last year, he was like don’t f... up. That was great advice.
“I was home that night at 11pm. He knew the personality. For me, I can get quite fiery and defensive. I haven’t got firm with him because he hasn’t torn shreds off me.
“He has kept it honest with me. I have been quite honest with him. I think that is where we get the mutual respect.
“Me and Des have a great relationship. It is very respectful, it is very honest.”
Hasler’s future at the Sea Eagles has been under the microscope in recent weeks following the club’s meek end to the season.
The premiership-winning coach is facing one of the most challenging times in his career as he attempts to stop the club unraveling.
Changes are afoot, although Hasler will be given the opportunity to alter his staff before the crosshairs are trained on him.
The whisper won’t go away that Manly are a club at war. The playing group, some will tell you, is still split after the Pride jersey fiasco.
There have been suggestions that the inability to get the best out of the outrageously talented Josh Schuster is a reflection on the coaching staff and an indication that perhaps Hasler doesn’t have the connection with the players that he once had.
Yet Walker is proof positive that Hasler still commands fierce loyalty and respect among many of those players, meaning a parting of ways would cause no end of pain.
Plenty of people will tell you Hasler is Manly, so in tune with the club that replacing him would leave a void that another coach would struggle to fill.
Walker won’t be part of the new regime but he will always carry the lessons that he has learned under Hasler.
Hasler, Walker insists, still knows how to work his magic.
“Des has his ways,” he said.
“He is awkward, that is for sure. He is very awkward. He has been really good to me, helping me. It is not like he has blown up at me like a schoolteacher type.
“I think that is when people get the best out of me, when they are not demanding things from me. Dessie, I can’t thank him enough.
“He has been massive.”
SCOTT JOINS WOODS AS GOLF BATTLE HEATS UP
Weekend Read understands that Adam Scott was among a select group of players who attended a meeting this week where Tiger Woods took the lead in the fight against Greg Norman’s LIV Golf.
Scott’s presence suggests it may not be a formality that he jumps ship. Many had assumed the Masters champion would join compatriots Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, who have been tipped to join Norman’s Saudi-backed rebel tour in coming weeks.
Yet the fact he attended the meeting in the leadup to this week’s BMW Championship suggests he is keeping an open mind.
Significantly, world No.2 Smith is not believed to have been in attendance, having withdrawn from the BMW Championships due to a hip injury.
Woods took a private jet with Rickie Fowler to the meeting. He stepped off the plane and stepped up the fight against Norman.
Two alpha dogs are eyeballing each other with the fate of the sport in the balance. Woods isn’t able to go toe-to-toe with the world’s best players any more but he still has more gravitas than any of his rivals.
He is ready to lock horns with Norman and his Saudi billions.
“It’s impactful, and I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour,” Rory McIlroy said.
“I think it shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation.
“Like it or not, they can’t really sell Tiger Woods anymore. The Tour had an easy job for 20 years. They don’t have Tiger - yes, they’ve got a bunch of us and we’re all great players - but we’re not Tiger Woods.
“I think he’s carried the Tour for a long, long time. I think we as players that were his contemporaries that were a little older than me but even the guys coming behind, we’ve all benefited from that.
“But as I said, how can we keep benefiting from that going forward.”
Manly star’s gesture a signal for ‘hope’, not gang violence
Manly utility Dylan Walker and five-eighth Kieran Foran have voiced their support for Haumole Olakau’atu after his public backing of jailed former teammate Manase Fainu, insisting his try celebration last weekend was designed to honour a mate rather than incite gang violence.
Olakau’atu, along with Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake, have been spoken to by their respective clubs after the NRL integrity unit raised concerns over their post-try celebrations last weekend, where they appeared to pay homage to Fainu.
Walker said he could understand the NRL’s stance given the concerns over postcode violence in Sydney, but insisted Olakau’atu’s gesture wasn’t gang-related.
“I can understand that with the audience the NRL want to bring in, but Haumole and Manase are best mates,” Walker said.
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“We talk a lot about mental health, especially the last week with Paul Green. I know that was a different situation. But this is a kid who had a big future, he will be sitting somewhere, and if he sees that, it will give him that little bit of hope.
“I don’t think it was a gang sign, it was deadset for Nas (Fainu). We’re all about helping people through tough times. This is a classic example of someone doing it very tough, he’s not at home with the safety of family around him.
“He’s surrounded by four walls and looking at random people who may have been in there for a long time. That will give him a bit of hope.
“I didn’t see it as a gang sign, I thought it was a show of support and a good gesture to try and help a best mate.”
Fainu was found guilty last week of stabbing someone outside a church dance, the verdict ending more than two years in limbo for the Sea Eagles hooker.
While he awaited his day in court, Fainu was stood down under the game’s no-fault stand-down policy but was free to train alongside his Sea Eagles teammates.
That all ended last week, although Fainu’s camp are expected to appeal the verdict.
“I got back here last year and when we were training in that pre-season, I couldn’t believe some of the things he was coming up with on the footy field,” five-eighth Kieran Foran said.
“I was blown away. I honestly thought if this bloke gets off [his charges] and stays fit, we can win the comp. That was my belief at the time. He was frighteningly good. I think there are two sides (to the celebration).
“Those boys want to show their support for Manase, and I have no issues with that. The concern from the NRL is you have to be careful on what sort of platform you do that.
“There has been a lot of postcode wars going on and people have lost their lives. We don’t want to be encouraging that side of it. But my personal opinion is Haumole wasn’t encouraging that, he was showing support for his good mate Manase.”
The situation involving Fainu is made more problematic by the presence of two of his brothers at Manly.
“I’ve known ‘Nas’ since he was 17,” Walker said.
“There are a lot of guys here who are mates with him. We went up to the Gold Coast on the day of [the verdict]. Not too many boys got to see him properly.
“We’ll show our support for him and also his family — two of his younger brothers are here in the junior grades — and we’re trying to throw a shoulder around them to make sure they’re okay.”
Players warned over gestures of support for jailed mate
Manly and the Warriors have warned their players against using rugby league to show support for their jailed friends after the NRL spoke to the respective clubs about the need to respect the image of the game.
NRL integrity boss Jason King reached out to Manly chief executive Tony Mestrov and his Warriors counterpart Cameron George on Wednesday after footage emerged of Sea Eagles forward Haumole Olakau’atu and Warriors captain Addin Fonua-Blake appearing to pay homage to jailed former teammate Manase Fainu.
Fainu was found guilty of stabbing a church leader last week and taken into custody on Monday, having spent more than two years on the sidelines awaiting for his day in court.
The players appeared to signal six and one after scoring tries on the weekend, believed to be a reference to the Guildford postcode where Fainu grew up.
The NRL immediately acted on the claims as they made contact with the clubs and urged them to speak to their players about the need to respect the game’s image.
The clip of the Olakau’atu’s celebration was shared by a western Sydney rapper who is also allegedly a senior member of a gang.
“This is something that our integrity team is taking a look at,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said.
“We are in active dialogue with the clubs involved. I am not necessarily pleased with the fact we have allegations of players showing support potentially under these circumstances.
“But we will need to look at it. We are in dialogue with the club and I think the club will deal with the matter with the players.”
It is understood the players told Mestrov and George that they would cease the celebrations.
Ironically, Manly prop Josh Aloiai has been at the forefront of a campaign to use the profile of rugby league players to end gang violence and “postcode wars”, which were blamed for the fatal stabbing of a teenager at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show earlier this year.
“I think it is important for us to understand the context of what has happened,” Abdo said.
“I am not in position to pass judgment because I am not sure what the context is for this. That is happening now through discussion with the club.
“Once we know that then I think we will deal with it. I am not saying there has been any breach of the rules but clearly we want to make sure that this isn’t something that is seen as s negative for our game, for the players and for the sport more generally.”
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