NRL coach sacked after months of legal threats and chaos

Des Hasler has been sacked by Manly — and it is just the start of the divorce.

After months of negotiations, legal threats and chaos, the Sea Eagles have confirmed Hasler's employment has been terminated immediately.

The Daily Telegraph first reported Hasler learned of the news after the club informed his manager George Mimis that he has been cut loose with more than a year to run on his contract.

Manly has reportedly made a final decision to appoint former Broncos coach Anthony Seibold as its next head coach.

It comes after the club reached breaking point on Wednesday night with revelations superstar Tom Trbojevic and brother Jake Trbojevic have become unhappy at the club.

The unrest on and off the playing field has left two of the club's best players worried that the club is "imploding".

The messy situation has become untenable in recent weeks with Hasler threatening legal action against the club should his contract have been torn up.

That legal action now seems certain to follow with reports Hasler will file a lawsuit over the value of the money remaining on his contract — as well as lost future earnings, having been denied a chance to extend his contract through to the end of the 2024 season.

It took a dramatic turn on Wednesday with Hasler suddenly agreeing on contract clauses he had previously refused to budge on.

Less than 24 hours later, the club has swung the axe regardless.

Sea Eagles chairman Scott Penn on Tuesday suggested a bomb was about to be dropped when he told Channel 9 the club was "moving on" from Hasler.

The trigger is reported to have been pulled at a board meeting on Thursday.

For the second time, Hasler's employment at Manly is ending with lawyers and bitterness between all involved.

He famously quit the club to join the Bulldogs while still under contract having led the team to premierships in 2008 and 2011. He return to the club in 2019, but has been unable to deliver the same success.

"It's been one of the most tumultuous periods in Manly's history," The Daily Telegraph's Phil Rothfield said on Fox Sports News.

"The board met at 10:30am this morning and they weighed up all their options, they looked at the damaging media and the leaks at the club in recent weeks and they decided a decision had to be made.

"It's a really important time for NRL clubs trying to work out everything (for next season) but they've been fully held back trying to work out this Des Hasler situation.

"I applaud the board, they've brought it to a head today. Tony rang Des Hasler's manager after the meeting and the paperwork for his termination is just being finalised by lawyers now."

The horror end to Manly's season put the spotlight firmly on Hasler after the Sea Eagles refused to give the two-time premiership winning mentor a contract extension.

The Sea Eagles racked up seven-straight losses in the wake of the rainbow jersey drama which saw seven of the team's best players withdraw from their Round 20 match against the Roosters on religious and cultural grounds.

Hasler is said to be considering a $1m lawsuit against the club over its decision to implement the pride jersey without consulting with the football department.

Hasler and the club have been at loggerheads ever since the club's pride jersey scandal that derailed their season.

He reportedly would have triggered an automatic contract extension for the 2024 season if Manly had reached the top-six in 2022. Hasler said the pride jersey storm took away any chance he had of achieving those results and securing the automatic extension.

Instead the team lost their last seven games to finish the season in 11th, likely five wins out of finals contention.

Rugby league journalist Danny Weidler reported Sunday Hasler's fate was actually sealed months ago with a suggestion he painted the club in a bad light as he spoke publicly about the rainbow jersey scandal that fractured the dressing room.

Despite the complete break down between Hasler and the club's front office, the club is reported to have offered Hasler an opportunity to accept a succession plan for 2023 in which he would groom the club's next full time coach.

The plan would have seen Seibold appointed as Hasler's senior assistant before taking over in 2024. It also would have seen Hasler removed from all recruitment and retention plans.

Seibold had one season at the South Sydney Rabbitohs where he claimed the Dally M Coach of the Year award before trading positions with Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos in a messy situation.

Originally signed for five seasons by the Broncos, Seibold lasted less than two before parting ways following the worst season in the club's history in 2020 where it claimed the wooden spoon for the first time.

Since then, Seibold has worked with Adam O'Brien at Newcastle and Eddie Jones in England's rugby union coaching staff.

Seibold used to work for the Sea Eagles, having been an assistant under Trent Barrett.

The situation is now expected to become a legal matter.

The extraordinary drama has extended onto the field with ongoing rumours of a rift between the Trbojevic brothers and star playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans. All three players have insisted they have a professional relationship.

Paul Sutton, manager of the Trbojevic brothers, on Wednesday appeared to suggest Tom's future was unclear.

"They feel that the club that they love is imploding in front of their eyes," he said.

"They are really down in the dumps with the place.

"If it continues, it is wearing and once the place becomes unsavoury, what do you do? If it becomes untenable.

"Obviously you'd assume Tommy would be a Sea Eagle for life but all the internal rumblings and conflict have taken a toll on him mentally.

"He has expressed to me his disappointment in the club's behaviour. He has expressed he is unhappy — both Jake and Tom have.

"Jake has called me from England expressing how unhappy he is with the club. It's the same as with Tom, this has taken a toll on him.

"All this has probably changed the narrative in terms of how they felt in the past."

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission