Tom Trbojevic bombshell emerges amid dramas surrounding Des Hasler
Manly's star fullback Tom Trbojevic is understood to be "losing patience" with the club amid the messy coaching saga surrounding Des Hasler.
The Sea Eagles decided to terminate Hasler's contract on Thursday despite the veteran mentor previously declaring he would be coaching Manly in 2023.
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However that will no longer happen, with former Souths and Broncos coach Anthony Seibold reportedly set to take over as the club's new head coach.
The instability and constant speculation around the club appears to be taking its toll, with Tom and Jake Trbojevic's manager saying they were "concerned" about staying at Manly.
"They have expressed concern to me about the instability at the club. It has got them worried," manager Paul Sutton told Nine News.
"They have not spoken to me about leaving the club but they are concerned about staying there."
Both Tom and Jake Trobojevic are under contract at the Sea Eagles until the end of 2026.
In a further twist, the brothers reportedly wanted a clause built into their contracts when they signed their big-money deals, so they could walk away if Hasler was sacked by Manly.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the request was denied, with the Trobojevic brothers eventually signing six-year extensions on deals worth more than $1 million a season.
The same report said some Manly officials had questioned Tom Trobojevic's value to the club, with injuries restricting the 2021 Dally M Medallist to just 32 games since re-signing three years ago.
Manly CEO Tony Mestrov has reportedly refuted any such suggestion that the club was considering letting either Tom or his brother Jake go.
“The suggestion was they wanted to have a coaching clause inserted into their contracts linked to Des,” SMH’s Adrian Proszenko said on SEN 1170 Afternoons.
“Nobody does that anymore, that used to be very fashionable, the clubs have cottoned on to that, legally they (the Trbojevic’s) won’t have an opportunity to extricate themselves from said contract.
“They’re probably two of your most valuable assets playing wise so you’ll want to keep them happy, so the question will be if Anthony Seibold can do that.”
Anthony Seibold set to join Manly's coaching staff
Manly owner Scott Penn this week confirmed that Seibold would be joining the Sea Eagles' coaching staff but did not confirm in what capacity.
“Anthony has been at the club before, he demonstrated phenomenal intellect, he’s a great tactician, he’s really good with the players and he’s shown he’s got credentials as a head coach,” Penn added.
“We’re still working through our pathway whether that’s assistant to start or the full process but right now we have identified him as someone we’re very interested in and someone who certainly had a few false starts himself but he’s very capable and would do a tremendous job.”
Hasler was set to earn about $950,000 on the final year of his contract next year, with an early termination of the deal expected to cost the Sea Eagles $450,000.
It's understood the Manly coach is considering taking legal action against the club for "compromising his ability to fulfil his contractual obligations" as a result of the pride jersey saga that derailed Manly's 2022 season.
A refusal by several players to wear the pride jersey caused a rift within the playing group, culminating in Manly losing their final seven games of the season.
Hasler reportedly would have been guaranteed a contract extension through 2024 had the Sea Eagles finished sixth or higher in 2022 - instead they tumbled from ninth at the beginning of the controversy to 11th by the end of the season.
Key to Hasler's frustration with the club is the assertion from the coach that neither he, nor the playing group, were consulted about the jerseys.
It's since emerged that emails exchanged between Manly's commercial boss Luke Tucker and general manager of football John Bonasera, show the latter saw no issue with the Manly players wearing the jerseys.
“Don’t see an issue at all mate," Bonasera reportedly said about the pride jersey plan.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Bonasera later apologised to Hasler for not coming to him or the players to double-check himself.
with AAP
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