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Almost a year to the day since he was sacked by the club, Des Hasler has launched legal action against Manly over his controversial departure in the wake of the pride jersey debacle.
Hasler and Manly’s legal eagles will go head to head in the NSW Supreme Court on October 20 with the former coach demanding financial compensation for his abrupt dismissal at the end of last season with a year remaining on his contract and the potential to trigger a clause for an automatic extension into 2024.
According to a NewsCorp report, Hasler began legal proceedings in August after attempts to negotiate an out-of-court settlement broke down.
Three days after Manly’s pride jersey fiasco, the club’s owner Scott Penn declared Hasler would coach the Sea Eagles for as long as he wanted.
“Des has a contract for as long as he wants, really,” Penn said at the time. “He is absolutely there next year.
Scott Penn with Des Hasler. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
But two months later he was given his marching orders after six weeks of ugly headlines and a situation at the club that had clearly become untenable.
Across a combined total of 559 games on and off the field, a Manly club record, Hasler won two premierships as a playmaker and two as coach.
And while his exit following the 2011 title win was ugly, he and Penn appeared to have buried the hatchet when Hasler returned to the club in late 2018.
A rainbow-striped jersey, and the fallout from its creation, erased all that good will.
Hasler was adamant he did not know of club plans to roll out the inclusion jersey, which had first been pitched to Manly in the pre-season.
Nor did several of his players, with seven opting to boycott last season’s crucial loss to the Sydney Roosters on religious grounds. Manly would not win again for the rest of the season with a seven-game losing streak plummeting from the top eight to well out of finals contention.
Hasler, not the club bosses, fronted the media to explain the pride jersey fiasco and the coach at the time apologised to everyone from his own squad, to the NRL, the LGBTQI community and people living with a disability.
Anthony Seibold took over as coach this year but the Sea Eagles struggled to finish in 12th spot.
Hasler has since signed a three-year deal to coach the Gold Coast from 2024 onwards.
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