Trent Barrett insists he’s learned his lessons from his drama-filled three years at Manly and claims he won’t make the same mistakes at Canterbury.
Barrett will get his second chance as an NRL coach at the Bulldogs, after opting to stay out the year as a Penrith assistant and start fresh on a three-year deal at Belmore in 2021.
But the former Sea Eagles coach is well aware there remain plenty of questions about his time on the northern beaches.
On the field he enjoyed moderate success, taking the Sea Eagles to an unlikely finals berth in 2017 as their attack fired but defence still had issues.
Off it though, Barrett’s Manly stint fell apart miserably.
He had a high-profile falling out with the club’s owners, which saw him hand in his 12 months’ resignation and virtually be paid for a year of gardening leave.
His problems with front office culminated in criticism of the club’s facilities, but there were also issues on his staff and in Jackson Hasting’s messy split from the club.
“The lessons learned in three years as a head coach will put me in good stead for this,” Barrett told Fox League’s NRL 360.
“The year off gives you time to self-reflect on things you did well and situations you could have handled differently.
“You can’t make emotional decisions.
“I think probably sometimes I was probably guilty of that. Not thinking through some of the things or repercussions it has on other people.
“I’ll certainly go into this with my eyes wide open and I won’t make some of the same mistakes again.”
Barrett admitted he’d spent part of his time away wondering if he’d made the right decision to walk away from the Sea Eagles, and will put an emphasis on hiring the right mix of staff.
But comfortable now with the knowledge that wouldn’t be his one and only chance, a bigger challenge awaits with the Bulldogs.
While he has proven he can spark a team’s attack at both Manly and Penrith, Canterbury have averaged a competition-worst 13 points per game since the start of last year.
Their roster must also be rebuilt, with Nick Cotric and Luke Thompson the two most notable signings in recent weeks with cap space to spend for 2021.
And while Canterbury have said they were swayed by Barrett’s vision, the coach-in-waiting has promised to do all his Bulldogs roster management outside business hours at Penrith.
“It’s important that we don’t rush, the decisions that we make in and around that cap have got to be smart ones,” Barrett said.
“It’s only July.
“We have to be really aware and very diligent in the homework we do on the players we need to sign.
“Because we’ve got to get it right. You can’t get that wrong.”
