AS he reflects on a tumultuous six months, dumped Manly coach Geoff Toovey admits he’d be prepared to take up an assistant coach’s role as a means of building a bridge to another head coaching gig.
But the Manly legend, who was unceremoniously punted to make way for Trent Barrett next season, isn’t sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and has been investigating opportunities outside of the game as well.
“I’m not sure whether to go back into the corporate world or hang around and wait for something to happen with the football,” Toovey tells RLW. “I could go back into finance, using my background in accounting. The financial sector is always an option. I’m still thinking about all of that. It’s only been a few weeks since the season ended.”
Toovey, a former NRMA board member, says he didn’t want to let the grass start growing under his feet by taking an extended break once Manly bowed out at season’s end.
“I’ve been following a few leads and trying to figure out which way to jump,” he says. “I’m working my way through those decisions at the moment. I’m out there sourcing some opportunities, but I don’t want to jump into anything too quickly and end up going in the wrong direction.”
The growing trend in recent years has been for many head coaches who lost their jobs to join the support staff at other clubs. Paul Green has just won the premiership at North Queensland with former head coaches David Furner (Canberra) and John Cartwright (Gold Coast) among his assistants.
Steve Kearney (ex-Eels) is on Wayne Bennett’s staff at Brisbane and Steve Price (ex-Dragons) works under Shane Flanagan at Cronulla.
In recent years, Rick Stone continued as an assistant at Newcastle after Bennett took over there and Jason Taylor (ex-Souths) worked under Trent Robinson at Sydney Roosters before picking up the head coaching job at the Wests Tigers.
Toovey says he would have no problem dropping into a support role if the right opportunity came along.
“There are no dramas there,” Toovey says. “If you’re really passionate and want to be involved in the game, then being involved at any level is always better than not being involved at all.”
Asked if he thought head coaches were more open to taking advice from support coaches and delegating roles these days, Toovey says: “That depends on who you’re talking to. I can only go from my own experience and I’m not an expert on everything, so I think if you surround yourself with the right people that’s very important. I think that, with successful coaches, that attitude helps you to maintain success, for sure.”
Toovey, who gave 28 years of loyal service to Manly as a champion player and coach, says it’s still “too raw” for him to talk at length about the circumstances in which he was sacked, despite taking the Sea Eagles to three straight finals series before 2015 – including the 2013 grand final.
Quizzed on whether he still loved the club and continued to regard himself as a Manly person, Toovey says: “Oh, look, I don’t want to say I love it right now but the club reserves a big space in my history. Unfortunately, things don’t work out as you would like sometimes. It’s still a bit close to the bone at the moment to really talk about it any more than that.”
Toovey says he needs a bit of space and time to process everything that has happened and move on with his life and career.
“I need to distance myself a little bit while I look for alternatives and move forward,” he says.
“I’ve got to see how things pan out for me. It’s a bit difficult for me, having been involved in football and getting up and going to work in that environment at 7am and working six-and-a-half days a week, to suddenly not be involved.”
But the Manly legend, who was unceremoniously punted to make way for Trent Barrett next season, isn’t sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and has been investigating opportunities outside of the game as well.
“I’m not sure whether to go back into the corporate world or hang around and wait for something to happen with the football,” Toovey tells RLW. “I could go back into finance, using my background in accounting. The financial sector is always an option. I’m still thinking about all of that. It’s only been a few weeks since the season ended.”
Toovey, a former NRMA board member, says he didn’t want to let the grass start growing under his feet by taking an extended break once Manly bowed out at season’s end.
“I’ve been following a few leads and trying to figure out which way to jump,” he says. “I’m working my way through those decisions at the moment. I’m out there sourcing some opportunities, but I don’t want to jump into anything too quickly and end up going in the wrong direction.”
The growing trend in recent years has been for many head coaches who lost their jobs to join the support staff at other clubs. Paul Green has just won the premiership at North Queensland with former head coaches David Furner (Canberra) and John Cartwright (Gold Coast) among his assistants.
Steve Kearney (ex-Eels) is on Wayne Bennett’s staff at Brisbane and Steve Price (ex-Dragons) works under Shane Flanagan at Cronulla.
In recent years, Rick Stone continued as an assistant at Newcastle after Bennett took over there and Jason Taylor (ex-Souths) worked under Trent Robinson at Sydney Roosters before picking up the head coaching job at the Wests Tigers.
Toovey says he would have no problem dropping into a support role if the right opportunity came along.
“There are no dramas there,” Toovey says. “If you’re really passionate and want to be involved in the game, then being involved at any level is always better than not being involved at all.”
Asked if he thought head coaches were more open to taking advice from support coaches and delegating roles these days, Toovey says: “That depends on who you’re talking to. I can only go from my own experience and I’m not an expert on everything, so I think if you surround yourself with the right people that’s very important. I think that, with successful coaches, that attitude helps you to maintain success, for sure.”
Toovey, who gave 28 years of loyal service to Manly as a champion player and coach, says it’s still “too raw” for him to talk at length about the circumstances in which he was sacked, despite taking the Sea Eagles to three straight finals series before 2015 – including the 2013 grand final.
Quizzed on whether he still loved the club and continued to regard himself as a Manly person, Toovey says: “Oh, look, I don’t want to say I love it right now but the club reserves a big space in my history. Unfortunately, things don’t work out as you would like sometimes. It’s still a bit close to the bone at the moment to really talk about it any more than that.”
Toovey says he needs a bit of space and time to process everything that has happened and move on with his life and career.
“I need to distance myself a little bit while I look for alternatives and move forward,” he says.
“I’ve got to see how things pan out for me. It’s a bit difficult for me, having been involved in football and getting up and going to work in that environment at 7am and working six-and-a-half days a week, to suddenly not be involved.”
