He Penrith junior player who would join the Sea Eagles early on in his playing career and he would go on to play over 250 games for the club. Des Hasler might not have started out at the Manly Sea Eagles, but in some way, it just seems to be where he belongs.
It wasn’t a shock that when Hasler moved into coaching he would take over as the Manly Sea Eagles coach and forge a career as one of the top coaches in the game, winning just over 59% of his matches and bringing two premiership victories to the club.
Then, having just won his second Grand Final in 2011 Hasler did the unexpected….he left the Sea Eagles to take up a lucrative coaching role with the Canterbury Bulldogs.
As Bulldogs coach Hasler has instant success, leading the minor premiership in his first season as the Bulldogs narrowly lost the 2012 Grand Final to the Melbourne Storm, the type of performance you could expect to see at the best american online casinos.
While the Bulldogs would have some good seasons following their Grand Final appearance, things just didn’t seem to be clicking at Haslers new club. With a very different style of play that included a lot of passing between forwards, the Bulldogs looked to be a team trying to fit a square peg into a round hole at times. As the years rolled on it becomes a style of play that looked less and less effective, and in the 2017 season, after finishing the season in 11th place, Hasler was unceremoniously let go by the Bulldogs as they backed out of a promised coaching extension just to see the back of a coach that was once one of the hottest properties in the league.
In 2018 Hasler sat on the sidelines, watching on as his Bulldogs team went through one of the worst season in the clubs history. Hasler continued to carry the brunt of the outrage Bulldogs fans felt. He was blamed for their poor lineup. He was blamed for the state of their junior development. He was even blamed for their catastrophic salary cap woes.
It seemed like Hasler’s coaching career was done. His reputation as one of the best coaches in the game was in ruins.
Then something funny happened….the Sea Eagles came calling once again….
Hasler took over a Sea Eagles side in turmoil. With the club struggling financially, and recruitment not being one of the clubs strong suits in recent years, Hasler seemed like he would struggle on his return to the club he once played for.
To the surprise of many, Hasler has turned the Sea Eagles into a very good team. His returns to his coaching roots has seen him turn a rag-tag Sea Eagles lineup into a potential finals team. Hasler is once again getting career best form out of his lineup, and things are once again looking good for a man who many suggested would never coach in the NRL again.
Hasler seems to be showing that sometimes the grass may seem greener somewhere else, but sometimes you have to return to your roots to find yourself once again.
Hasler currently has the Sea Eagles sitting in 5th place on the NRL ladder. They have battled through injuries and a less than ideal draw to be one of the harder teams in the premiership to beat according to www.casinosnz.io
If Hasler can just take the Sea Eagles to a finals birth, it would be an amazing achievement. Maybe bigger is the turn around from finding himself in coaching oblivion to once again being praised for what he can do as a coach in the NRL.
Hasler was a very handy player, one that could play multiple positions and who was known for being very reliable when called upon at every level he played at. Now, as a coach, the Sea Eagles are relying on Hasler to bring them back to the top of the NRL.
It is only early days right now, but he is off to a pretty good start!
