With the NRL heading into the final five rounds of the regular season and the top eight battle heating up, we thought we would take a look at the top 5 players who have made a resurgence this season following an injury-riddled or just plain average previous season.
1. Des Hasler
After a disastrous end to his six-year stint at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, in which Des Hasler’s now-notorious back-ended deals almost brought the club to its knees, it was widely expected that no-one would be hiring the old fashioned Hasler anytime soon.
However, following a messy break up with ex-head coach Trent Barrett, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles were in desperate need of a steady hand, and as a result, plucked Hasler from the wilderness to guide the silver tails into the future.
Largely discounted as wooden spoon contenders at the beginning of the year, with what was on paper an extremely shaky and inexperienced backline, Des is back working his magic with the Sea Eagles currently sitting 5th with five rounds remaining. With his ragtag group of players now considered all but certain to make the finals.
Handed a squad that he largely can't experiment with due to a lack of funds, Hasler has somehow managed to grab 12 wins from 19 games, all of this with arguably his best player Tom Trbojevic only making eight appearances in the season so far.
While Dessie seemingly became obsessed with sports science and statistics during the back end of his time at the Bulldogs, returning home to Manly on a shoestring budget has forced him to go away from his mad methods and back to what he does best, coaching players how to win football games.
