By Adrian Proszenko
Jason King knows a thing or two about helping the Sea Eagles take flight.
“When I started it was the Northern Eagles, and then the license went back to Manly,” King recalled.
“There were different ownership models for a while and then we got to a point where we achieved a phenomenal amount of success. Having seen it all, from seeing it at the low points to the high points, the experience has been terrific.
“Hopefully that experience holds the club in good stead going forward and we achieve some pretty special things.”
King is speaking publicly for the first time since being appointed the new Manly chief executive. It was a move ratified at a Sea Eagles board meeting on Wednesday afternoon following the resignation of Tony Mestrov, who will step away from the role on December 19.
For King, it continues a love affair with the club. He grew up in French’s Forest, went to school just across the road from 4 Pines Park at St Augustine’s College and ended up making 239 appearances across 14 seasons for the Silvertails.
Former Sea eagles co-captain Jason King is currently the NRL’s executive general manager for legal, integrity and risk.Credit: Anthony Johnson
That included the 2008 grand final, a 40-0 win against arch rivals Melbourne, before being appointed Manly captain.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Brookvale and I’m about to spend a bit more there,” King said.
After his playing days, King has also spent over a decade at Rugby League Central.
“I’ve been very fortunate at the NRL, since I transitioned out of rugby league I’ve been a practising solicitor, been practising sports law, done football operations roles at the NRL, commercial roles, leading the legal and integrity team for the last three years.
“Combining that experience with playing experience at the club, hopefully I have some good skills I can bring in and hopefully drive the club forward.”
Chairman Scott Penn credited King’s predecessor Mestrov, also a former Manly prop, for doing the “heavy lifting” after inheriting a number of legacy issues. They included dealing with the departures of the Fulton family from the club, former coach Des Hasler’s legal claim against Manly (which was eventually settled out of court), the coronial inquest into the death of Keith Titmus and the Cherry-Evans messy exit.
“Tony did a fantastic job, he came in with a lot of legacy issues that he had to solve and he did a phenomenal job doing that,” Penn said.
“We will always be grateful for what he delivered over the past three years … Jason is coming in with an amazing foundation, so now it’s about how do we take it to the next level?”
Continuity is something Manly is desperately craving in the front office after churning through a plethora of CEOs: David Perry, Joe Kelly, Tim Cleary, Lyall Gorman, Stephen Humphreys and Mestrov have all held the role since 2014.
Penn believes that, in King, the Sea Eagles have their long-term boss.
“We need stability,” Penn said. “To be fair, Tony has got the administrative side back on track.
“We absolutely have the playing squad to win premierships, Seibs [coach Anthony Seibold] knows he has got it. Now it is about how do we bring the best out of them.”
One of King’s top priorities will be to deliver a revamped stadium precinct, as well as success on the field after a disappointing 10th placed finish. The former NSW Blues prop believes his experiences on and off the field have equipped him well for the challenge.
“I’ve been really fortunate, I was saying to someone the other day that I’ve been involved in professional rugby league for 25 years,” said King, who narrowly missed out the last two times the Manly chief executive role was available.
“I feel so privileged to be able to say that, wearing different hats. I had some success as a player when I was there, we had a terrific playing group, and then to move into the administrative side of the game has been tremendous.
“You see the game from different perspectives, you understand the business of sport, those experiences have been really rich. To bring that collection of skills and experience and perspective to the club, I can’t wait to jump in and take the club forward and be successful.”
King will finish up his NRL job at Christmas and begin at Manly in the new year. The 44-year-old feels the club will move into pre-season in good spirits after a couple of positive announcements.
“We’ve had Kieran Foran recently [join the coaching staff], Tom [Trbojevic] has re-signed at the club, there’s a lot of positive momentum behind the club,” King said.
“To be stepping in and playing my part, it’s come at a good time. I can’t wait to start working closely with everyone to take the club forward and achieve success.”
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