Hasler makes future call ahead of 500-game milestone
Scott Bailey |
Des Hasler has indicated he doesn’t want his 20th season as an NRL coach to be his last, adamant there is still more in the tank ahead of game number 500.
Hasler enters his milestone match against the Warriors on Saturday under intense scrutiny, fighting to hold on to his job with Gold Coast.
Last on the ladder and out of finals contention, a clause in Hasler’s contract means he can be cut as coach at the end of 2025 with a year still to run on the deal.
Hasler is expected to coach out this season regardless of what happens, but the veteran mentor insisted on Friday he still had the fuel to coach on.
Asked whether there was more left in the tank by local Auckland media, Hasler was defiant.
“If you enjoy something do you still do it?” Hasler responded.
When the reporter responded they would, Hasler replied: “Well there you go, there is your answer.”
A premiership-winning coach at Manly in 2008 and 2011, Hasler rebuilt the Sea Eagles out of the Northern Eagles merge and into NRL heavyweights.
His shock 2012 Canterbury defection led to two more grand finals, before returning to Manly and sitting second to only Bob Fulton for combined games coached and played for the Sea Eagles.
The Titans then saw Hasler as the man to take the club to the promised land when they signed him in 2023 for the 2024 season, but the move has not paid off.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. Whether it is 100, 200, 300 or 500 games, I have been very fortunate. There is no other way to describe it than that,” Hasler said.
“It’s always a navigation piece. It’s about the journey, and with people you never know what is around the corner form day to day.
“It’s a matter of strapping yourself in and going for it.
“The moments you experience when you bump into a person 15 or 20 years later and you get feedback from them about how important it was … that’s quite significant.”
Hasler’s career remains inextricably linked to Kieran Foran’s, after he handed him his Manly debut, signed him to Canterbury, then brought the half back to Brookvale.
Foran will also play his last game in his native New Zealand on Saturday, ahead of this year’s retirement.
“The impact he has had on many players’ lives has been instrumental,” Foran said.
“It is a credit to the kind of person he is, the coach he has been, he has tried to drain every ounce possible out of all his players and get as much success as possible.
“I struggle to name another guy that dedicates as much time and passion to what they do than Dessie.”
Meanwhile, Hasler claimed he had “forgotten” and “moved on” from his dressing-room spray at Titans players last week, which was caught on camera after their loss to Wests Tigers.
AAP
