‘The best teams respond better’: Meet the man behind Des Hasler’s famously resilient culture
Des Hasler has a real knack for creating a resilient culture among his players. It’s the type of culture that will see his team produce their best performances and win games when their backs are against the wall.
We saw it in full flight last Saturday when Manly came up with one of their best wins of the season over the Eels.
They were coming off three consecutive ugly losses and did it without their superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic, regular No.6 Dylan Walker and best prop in the game as voted by his peers Addin Fonua-Blake.
A true gutsy win.
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But how did they do it? A secret weapon behind the scenes called John Novak.
Novak is a mindset coach that’s been Hasler’s mindset performance man in the NRL for the last 10 years. He is such an important piece to Manly’s puzzle that he’s been kept on even during COVID-19.
The 58-year-old teaches the importance of a positive mindset and that what you put out is what you get in return as part of the Boomerang Effect. Although he would never admit it himself, he would have played a big hand in Manly’s gritty win on the weekend.
In the perfect NRL world there would be no distractions, no adversity and a 100 per cent win rate would be easily achieved. But in the real world that’s not possible. Part of Novak’s job is to help the team deal with adversity and distractions as well as teaching them the right mindset to recover from losses and bounce back stronger.
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Without giving all of the secrets away, Novak revealed exclusively to Foxsports.com.au the essence of what he teaches and three of the things that helped the Sea Eagles knock over the Eels, who were sitting pretty at the top of the ladder.
“Do you put out good energy in difficult moments? The best teams anywhere in the world are the ones who respond better,” Novak said.
“You’re in control of what happens in a moment by the way you act and react. Great teams act and react better.
“One, the players always come back to one word — belief.
“When you say belief, it’s belief in your systems, your structures, your processes, it’s belief that we’ve done this before, it’s belief in the guy next to you, in the coaching staff and in the bloke that leads the charge.
“Two, it’s also the detail. When a team comes out and scores within two minutes, they really care about the detail and the detail means when you stay focused in there, not just for 10 minutes, not 20 minutes, you stay in there for 80 minutes, which is 4800 seconds of energy on the job. That’s what they did.
“Three, personal responsibility. Every player in the NRL has a personal responsibility to nail their role.
“This is not a trick, it’s not a magic formula, it’s just belief, detail and personal responsibility.
“When you put these key elements together and trust in the coach, anything can happen and of course, they’re very proud of what did happen — they deserve it.”
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BLACK BELT
Novak has worked with some of Australia’s most notable sport stars including James Magnussen, David Warner and Melissa Wu.
He’s also got an impressive sporting background of his own in martial arts having earned a third Dan black belt. It’s his martial arts career that helped him discover just how powerful a positive mindset is.
Novak started competing when he was 11-years old and grew to become one of Australia’s best fighters. He made a comeback between 33 and 38-years old and practiced everything he teaches today to end up more successful than what he was at his physical peak.
“In the early part of my career, I didn’t do it at a level I was proud of in my mind, so I made a comeback and tested everything that I now share in mindset.
“I was fighting against some of the most known fighters in this country and winning 75 per cent of the time even though I was considered “old”. Why? Because I finally got what I didn’t understand before and it’s what I share and teach now for the rest of my life.”
DECADE-LONG NRL JOURNEY
Novak has been a part of the NRL since 2010 and his results speak for themselves.
While Hasler may get the credit for uncovering Novak, the mindset coach’s journey in the NRL actually started at the Roosters with Brad Fittler.
It was in a presentation to a group of school students at Matraville Sports High back in 2009 that Novak met Scott Murray, Roosters Under 20s coach and the pair began working together.
He made such an impression at the Roosters that then first grade coach Fittler promoted him to work with the NRL squad.
Novak started working with the first grade team in the final four games of the horror ’09 season where they finished last. The following year, they played in the grand final.
In 2011, he linked up with Hasler at the Sea Eagles after meeting him at an event. They went on to win the premiership.
Hasler respected Novak’s work so much he took him to the Bulldogs in 2012, where he became the first mind coach in the country to be employed full time by a sporting organisation.
During his time as Head of Mind Management at the Bulldogs, the team played in two grand finals and won a minor premiership.
Then when Hasler reconnected with the Sea Eagles in 2019, so did Novak.
RELATIONSHIP WITH NRL’S MOST INTRIGUING COACH
Fans see Hasler as the quirky coach who keeps his cards very close to his chest. He’s often referred to as the ‘mad professor’ because of all the things he is willing to try.
Novak knows the real Des Hasler. He sees him as a friend whom he’s developed a trusting and successful relationship with.
“I work very closely with Des and we are like-minded in excellence. He and I think very similarly in that there shouldn’t be a reason why one week you have the best performance on the planet and the next week you leak points,” he said.
“When I think of Des as a coach I always look for opportunities to debunk the myth that he’s the ‘mad professor’. That’s such a ridiculous analysis, anyone who says that has no idea who the person is.
“There’s no one more thorough that I know, more meticulous, more loyal to his players, who is undoubtedly 100 per cent in and 100 per cent on, totally immersed in his work with a work ethic that’s second to none.
“He is sophisticated as a coach, absolutely a student of the game, he knows the game inside out, yet he’s always learning because he’s got a growth mindset and a growth mindset is open, curious and interested.
“What we developed in 2011 and the access and opportunities he provided me with to be very honestly me, we developed this trusting relationship that just grew and grew.
“I suppose the biggest part of it is that it grew so much that when he asked me to follow him to the Dogs I believed in him so much that I went with him.”
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TRANSFORMATION
One of Novak’s biggest challenges working in a team sport is tailoring a message for 35 different personalities. He admits sometimes players can be a bit hesitant buying into what he teaches and revealed former Sea Eagles captain Jason King was one of them at first before transforming his mindset.
“Some minds are on a different tangent, some people aren’t ready for the message whereas some people are, some people flourish and some people are superstars now.
“Jason King once said to me ‘I was a bit hesitant about all of this mind stuff when I first met you but I realise now how important positivity is to success’.”
FULL CIRCLE
As a lifelong Manly fan, Novak can never go past the 2011 premiership when asked what the proudest moment of his career is.
But seeing the growth in players is also something that is close to his heart. When he started working in the NRL, Daly Cherry-Evans was a fresh-faced rookie, now the pair have linked up again as much older and wiser versions of themselves.
“First off, I’m most proud of being part of the team who won in 2011 with Manly, the team I’ve supported for 50 years, he said.
“Then getting another opportunity last year (reuniting with the Sea Eagles), and I’m very proud of this… to be working with a new bunch of fellas and one of the youngest in the team that we won with in 2011 is the captain now.
“I am honoured to be working with a bunch of blokes who inspire me to be better. It’s like being at home for me. I’m proud to be at home with a bunch of guys I believe in that could do great things this year, which is totally up to them with how they present their best selves.”