I WAS thrilled to hear Dessie is back in the coaching seat.
Obviously when someone gives you something so significant like an NRL jersey you keep a special spot for him in your heart, and he was a great support to me personally as I transitioned from the train-on squad in 2012 to a regular first-grader under him at the Bulldogs.
And that’s what I think the Sea Eagles will get most out of his appointment, he’s a wonderful man manager, he really cares about his players.
The thing I found with Dessie is he’ll always back you no matter how bad you’re going, no matter how much you’re struggling.
But it wasn’t so much about my game. What made my opinion really strong of Des was around the time when I was having my first child.
I was pretty fresh into my NRL career, it was only early days, and I was having my first kid.
That’s probably when I realised just how much he cares for his players. The way he spoke to me about it, and the way he accommodated my new handful and new workload, he really helped me out at a tough time.
So, I think Manly having someone like Des, who’s a very good manager of people, is just what they need.
From the outside looking in, obviously I’ve never been to Manly, but it they’ve had a few dramas from different situations over the past 12 months and obviously people are unhappy with where the club’s at, including the players.
And as a leader Des is also very business-minded, so I think he’ll be really good for the brand in regards to getting the sponsorship on board and creating revenue around the club, I think he’ll do a really good job.
It’s unfortunate they’ll be starting more than $300,000 behind the cap, and I guess that’s going to be his biggest test. He’ll need to keep the players fit because of the roster problems they’re sure to have as a result.
But he is a brilliant coach, he’s very advanced in the game. He knows the way the game is going to go and that’s the way he coached.
I guess in the end it was probably his downfall when he was with us, because he was probably too far ahead of us.
We probably weren’t up to scratch with the way he wanted to do it, and it wasn’t working. He ended up getting punted on our bad performances.
No matter what style of football you bring, if you’re winning games, results fix everything.
But we weren’t getting results and when you’re not getting results it becomes pretty frustrating and emotional, and people start pointing fingers. And unfortunately he was the one who took the fall.
There’s been a fair bit of bad press about Dessie over the past 12 months with the drama the Bulldogs ended up in and player movement.
But I’m sure he’ll turn things around at Manly. He’s won two premierships there, he played there for years, he knows the place inside and out, so it’s his homecoming.
Hopefully he does enjoy some success, but not too much of course.
Obviously when someone gives you something so significant like an NRL jersey you keep a special spot for him in your heart, and he was a great support to me personally as I transitioned from the train-on squad in 2012 to a regular first-grader under him at the Bulldogs.
And that’s what I think the Sea Eagles will get most out of his appointment, he’s a wonderful man manager, he really cares about his players.
The thing I found with Dessie is he’ll always back you no matter how bad you’re going, no matter how much you’re struggling.
But it wasn’t so much about my game. What made my opinion really strong of Des was around the time when I was having my first child.
I was pretty fresh into my NRL career, it was only early days, and I was having my first kid.
That’s probably when I realised just how much he cares for his players. The way he spoke to me about it, and the way he accommodated my new handful and new workload, he really helped me out at a tough time.
So, I think Manly having someone like Des, who’s a very good manager of people, is just what they need.
From the outside looking in, obviously I’ve never been to Manly, but it they’ve had a few dramas from different situations over the past 12 months and obviously people are unhappy with where the club’s at, including the players.
And as a leader Des is also very business-minded, so I think he’ll be really good for the brand in regards to getting the sponsorship on board and creating revenue around the club, I think he’ll do a really good job.
It’s unfortunate they’ll be starting more than $300,000 behind the cap, and I guess that’s going to be his biggest test. He’ll need to keep the players fit because of the roster problems they’re sure to have as a result.
But he is a brilliant coach, he’s very advanced in the game. He knows the way the game is going to go and that’s the way he coached.
I guess in the end it was probably his downfall when he was with us, because he was probably too far ahead of us.
We probably weren’t up to scratch with the way he wanted to do it, and it wasn’t working. He ended up getting punted on our bad performances.
No matter what style of football you bring, if you’re winning games, results fix everything.
But we weren’t getting results and when you’re not getting results it becomes pretty frustrating and emotional, and people start pointing fingers. And unfortunately he was the one who took the fall.
There’s been a fair bit of bad press about Dessie over the past 12 months with the drama the Bulldogs ended up in and player movement.
But I’m sure he’ll turn things around at Manly. He’s won two premierships there, he played there for years, he knows the place inside and out, so it’s his homecoming.
Hopefully he does enjoy some success, but not too much of course.
