Manly Sea Eagles boss Tony Mestrov lifts lid on 'awful' situation surrounding family
The NRL figure has revealed the 'terrible' threats he and his family received before taking the Manly job.
Being in charge of a rugby league club can be an intense and ruthless business where enemies are made almost on a daily basis. But as brutal as it can be, nothing Manly CEO Tony Mestrov has encountered in the NRL compares to his time in charge of Greyhound Racing NSW.
The Sea Eagles boss has revealed for the first time he was the target of a death threat from an animal activist during his final months at GRNSW early last year. The activist, using a pseudonym on social media, aimed the threat at Mestrov and his family and posted their residential address online.
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The threat was taken seriously and led to Mestrov employing a security guard and installing extra video surveillance to regularly check on his house while police investigated. The activist was eventually uncovered and given an official warning by authorities without being charged.
Mestrov joined the Sea Eagles soon after the incident but the memory is seared in his memory. "It was an awful thing to go through and something you wouldn’t wish on anyone," he told Yahoo Sport Australia.
"There is nothing worse in life than to receive a death threat aimed at you and your family. You feel helpless. It was extremely unsettling. It’s terrible when business creeps into your personal life. Your family is number one so to step over that line rocked me. It’s not a nice thing to happen."
Tony Mestrov proud of work in greyhound racing
Mestrov is proud of his work at Greyhound Racing NSW, especially in regards to animal welfare. He said: "I love seeing people walking around with rehomed greyhounds. I can’t help myself when I see one, I've got to go and pat it.
"There are a lot of people who support the (greyhound) industry but also a lot of people against it. The police sent her (the activist) a letter and she was also spoken to and it didn’t happen again.
"She was told if there was any further threats then she would be charged. It ceased immediately. It was pretty rigorous. We handled it as best you can in those difficult situations. We put up a brave face for a while. We just had to deal with it."
Mestrov has confronted plenty of challenges in his time at Manly, including the axing of premiership-winning coach Des Hasler and dismissal of pathways manager Kristie Fulton, daughter of club legend Bob Fulton. "There's plenty of passion in rugby league and enemies are made easily, but a death threat is next level stuff," he said. "I never want to go through something like that again."
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