NRL: Jackson Hastings still an outcast at struggling Manly

Jackson Hastings is still an outcast despite the injury woes at Manly after he missed the Sea Eagles’ 17-man squad to play the Roosters.

Manly’s Jake Trbojevic gets involved in some training drills with the Avalon juniors yesterday. Pictures: Julian Andrews

Jackson Hastings is still an outcast. He’s been named in Manly’s squad to play the Sydney Roosters but the polarising figure at the centre of the Sea Eagles’ infighting was missing from yesterday’s bruising training session and was rated virtually no chance of making the final 17-man squad by Jake Trbojevic.

Hastings was selected just a fortnight after senior players told coach Trent Barrett they no longer wanted to play with him after a series of stinks with captain Daly Cherry-Evans. The misfiring and injury-ravaged Sea Eagles were yesterday told some stern home truths by Barrett in a confronting video session before they got down and dirty in a series of full-on contact drills. Dylan Walker was at five-eighth while Hastings was nowhere to be seen. It’s near-certain to stay that way.

When Trbojevic was asked if Hastings was likely to feature against the Roosters on Sunday, he replied: “I’d say it’s unlikely. We’ve got Dylan Walker at six.”

Trbojevic fended off a question about whether he had been one of the players who told Barrett to sack Hastings after the altercations with Cherry-Evans.

“Everyone read a bit into that,” he said. “There are a few things that have gone on. We all know what happened in Gladstone. It wasn’t an isolated incident. There were a few things that happened over time and Baz had to make a decision. I honestly fully support it. If I was in his position I would have done the same thing.

“It hurts when he gets bagged for it. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and person. I really think he had to make that decision.”

Trbojevic’s frustrations last week boiled over to the extent that one of the more drama-free players in the NRL was sin-binned for giving the referee a mouthful. He revealed yesterday he was embarrassed enough to give the whistleblower an apology after the game.

Asked about the next step with Hastings, he said: “I’m not sure. He’s been training out at Blacktown. He’s got a few mates in the squad, I guess, who he hangs out with, which he always has. I’m not too sure. He’s been training out at Blacktown and playing for them. Dylan trained really well.”

Sea Eagles backrower Joel Thompson said Barrett had laid down the law after last week’s loss to Newcastle left them equal last on the ladder.

“It’s been a shitfight,” Thompson said. “It’s been an absolute nightmare. I’ve never in my 10 years been through anything like it. It’s totally different here. I don’t know whether because it’s Manly, but there’s a lot of scrutiny.

“You go down to the shops and people in the cafes say, ‘What’s happening at Manly?’ It’s just everywhere. It’s on social media. I’ve got off that. It’s a lot of pressure. We just need to get a win and get that confidence back.

“When you lose and there’s a bit of off-field stuff, it snowballs and that’s what has happened here. It’s been a perfect recipe for a disaster.”

The Sea Eagles’ horrific injury toll forced Barrett to choose Hastings in an extended squad but he clearly has no intention of having him on the field on Sunday.

“We back Baz,” Thompson said. “He’s the coach and he’s a great coach at that. If he picks him (Hastings), of course we’ll play with him. We’re professionals. We have a job to do. He’ll come in and fit in. But we’ve named Walks there. He trained today, he was very sharp. We look forward to playing with him. It was probably one of our best sessions.”

On the video/honesty session, Thompson said: “Egos got hurt but that’s part of the game. We’ve been dishing up bullshit. We need to fix it and get on with it and turn this around. It’s all on us. It’s up to the players. All these excuses with off-field stuff — at the end of the day, it’s an 80-minute game and we need to get out there and do what the coaches want.

“We haven’t been doing that. We had the video session, we got a little touch-up, we got flogged, no surprise there, there was a bit of bash-up and then our football stuff looked good.”

Thompson said players had made sure they were keeping in contact with Hastings.

“He came to a team dinner,” he said. “A lot of players have offered him support if he needs it. At the end of the day it was Baz’s decision and we back him. He’s a great coach and he knows what he’s doing.

“We’re all out of form. Seventeen players are out of form. But it just takes us doing our job correctly for all os us to come back into form. It’s pretty simple.

“Sunday is a great opportunity for that.”