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Is Des Hasler the best coach in the NRL?

Roar Guru
2nd October, 2014
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Des Hasler's stellar record kept him employed at Canterbury - just. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Guru
2nd October, 2014
18

This Sunday, Des Hasler will coach his fifth grand final in 10 years.

With Manly he won two and lost one to Melbourne, who were later found to be cheating the cap.

Des also lost his most recent grand final to Melbourne, this time as coach of Canterbury, and who knows what this coming Sunday holds.

So is Des the best coach in the NRL?

Hasler left Manly a two-time premiership winner, having rebuilt the great club after the Northern Eagles merger nearly killed them.

Joining the Bulldogs after winning the 2011 grand final with Manly was a fresh challenge, as he was no longer in charge of a Manly team containing Jamie Lyon, the Stewart brothers, Anthony Watmough, Brent Kite, Steve Matai, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran.

The Canterbury team he was to lead had failed to make the finals, and their captain, Andrew Ryan, was retiring. Would Hasler be able to take the Dogs to finals football, or was he just a coach who got lucky at Manly with the players at his disposal?

Hasler dismissed any concerns almost immediately, turning the Dogs into one of the most feared teams in the competition.

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Des’ Dogs played unlike anyone else, with their forwards’ – led by Sam Kasiano and James Graham – ball playing able to break the line and gain faster play the ball, giving fullback Ben Barba enough room to work his magic and earn a Dally M medal.

If there was a season that proved Des Hasler’s brilliance, it was 2012. I mean he took the Bulldogs to the grand final with Kris Keating as his halfback, the man is clearly a genius.

I must admit I wrote the Bulldogs off after they lost to the Gold Coast Titans in Round 26 this year. They had no form coming into the finals and people were watching their games to see what Josh Reynolds would do next. But they went down to Melbourne in week one and convincingly beat Melbourne 28-4.

This was not the team beaten by the Titans the week before. The Bulldogs thoroughly deserve their spot in this weekend’s grand final and this finals series has proven that Des Hasler is the best coach in the NRL – and may be for a very long time.

He is a man manager and motivator like the great Wayne Bennett, but also a master tactician in the mould of Warren Ryan. He devises plans each week that target his opponents’ weakness while managing his own.

If he guides the Dogs to victory this weekend it may be time to talk about Des Hasler as not the best coach in his time, but one of the greatest of all time.

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