Manly Implosion
Hasler, Staff, Players Out - New Era in Sea Eagles History Begins on a Sour Note
THE DRUM - By Dave Keogh
We did win the premiership… right?
What a difference a month makes.
Seems like we hardly had time to celebrate Manly’s brilliant Grand Final victory when all Hell broke loose. First we lost Hoppa… then Des… and every day since, the whole sorry scenario has descended into a sordid drama worthy of a daytime TV Soap script. What a shame that the efforts of a fantastic team (including the coaching staff) have been so quickly diminished or at least swept from recent memory by the politics that have ensued since Sunday, October 2nd.
I watched the ‘victory parade’ down The Corso and cheered along with everyone else as our victorious team climbed into their red open-top double decker bus in front of Manly Council Chambers… just as I did in 2008. Yet it somehow felt very different. Already the fizz had dissipated as if in anticipation of what was to follow. The celebrations were just that much emptier… somewhat flat. The champagne was flowing but it felt like the bubble was about to burst.
At first I thought it was just because this victory had followed 2008 so quickly… after all, what could top beating Melbourne 40-0 three years ago? But it was more than that. That uneasiness in my gut wouldn’t go away. Now I know why.
I spoke to Zorba last Saturday and he’s still shaking his head. He just can’t believe that the club he loves has been torn apart so quickly. He still can’t understand why the management team seemed so Hell bent on fixing something that wasn’t broken. But what I like about Zorba is that for him, the Sea Eagles will always come first. He’s willing to let personal stuff slip to one side and get back to helping Manly stay great in any way he can. If that’s from the sidelines, so be it. If it’s as a member of a soon-to-be elected new Football Club Board, you can bet he’ll do his best for the club there too.
I think we should all adopt that attitude. Those so-called ‘fans’ who say they’ll no longer support the Sea Eagles because of what the Board or the CEO or the former Coach have supposedly done are in my opinion, not true fans at all. True fans are those who followed the team to Hell and back through the Super League War and the Northern Eagles debacle. The ones who still turned up every week when we were re-building prior to ‘the Hasler era’ and were on a hiding to nothing in every game we played.
And the true fans now will be those who are grateful we had Des at the helm these last seven years and wish him all the best in his new gig at the Bulldogs. They’ll be the ones who help the Club get on with life by supporting new coach, the mighty Tooves and his new team from the back office to the field.
We have a World Club Championship to win and a Premiership to defend. Des Hasler will always be a Manly legend. He played 255 games for the Sea Eagles, scoring 72 tries and winning two premierships as a player. He’s taken us to three Grand Finals and won a further two premierships as our coach. He represented both New South Wales and Australia from Manly. He’s been amazing for us and whether his transgressions now are real or imagined, his record will not change and has to be admired.
Good luck to both Des and Crusher… I have a feeling they’ll be welcomed back to Manly at some time in the future. And good luck Tooves. If the new Coach can keep the nucleus of this year’s premiership winning team together, Manly will continue to be among the strongest and most successful teams in the NRL.
GO MANLY!!!
To read Dave Keogh’s blog, go to: http://doubledrummer.wordpress.com