MANLY coach Geoff Toovey has vowed not to change Des Hasler's pre-season program, declaring: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

The Sea Eagles era under Toovey officially begins tomorrow, when all players return to training at Narrabeen.The resumption comes just over a week after Toovey was handed the reins a year ahead of schedule, and the former Sea Eagles skipper still regards the amazing circumstances surrounding his appointment as "surreal".

"It's only 24 hours away," he reflected yesterday.

"It's still a little bit surreal at the moment, because everything happened so quickly.

"First I was going to be Des's assistant for a while longer then I had the job in a year's time and now I'm doing it. But at the same time it's very exciting.

"Once the footy starts things will go relatively back to normal. We have got a great player roster and a very happy one too."

"With all the changes in regards to staff, we can't really change too much (on the training paddock)," he said. "But we've had a very successful period under Des and we want to continue on that path. So if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Toovey's main challenge is to rebuild the coaching staff, starting with a new right-hand man. An appointment is not expected for another.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/new-manly-coach-geoff-toovey-rules-out-making-dramatic-changes-on-his-first-day/story-e6frfgbo-1226200029436

swoop said the following on Sun Nov 20 9:35 2011

Glad to see he said a good player roster and a happy one too.

SeaEagleRock8 said the following on Sun Nov 20 15:56 2011

Toovey somehow doesn't strike me as someone who will struggle with the huge demands of being an NRL coach. He has the huge advantage of his team having a great playing roster, which is very unusual for debutant coaches. Ricky Stuart won a comp at his first attempt, with a strong roster from memory. In addition to the roster he has been part of the system, and he's watched from close quarters as Des handled some of the most difficult circumstances a coach could ever face. We won this year with a rookie half, I feel quite confident we can do it again with a rookie coach.

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