One year into the job, Sea Eagles chief and Bayview local Tony Mestrov says he wants to bring back the love of Manly.
Back in the day, every time Tony Mestrov saw a kid walking around the Northern Beaches in a football kit that wasn’t maroon and white, it would eat away at him.
Following the Sea Eagles was a religion when he was growing up in Mona Vale and attending Brookvale’s St Augustine’s College – just a 40-20 kick away from 4 Pines Park.
“Everyone in the area once supported Manly,” the freshly minted Sea Eagles chief executive officer (CEO) tells Peninsula Living Pittwater from his office overlooking Brookie Oval.
“I’d see kids walking around in different clubs’ colours – or a different sport altogether – and wonder where that love for Manly went.
“One of my aims is to restore what we had back then.”
Mestrov played soccer until he was 15, but there was never any real doubt where his real passion – and destiny – lay.
“I hadn’t made any rep sides, but I knew I wanted to play first grade for Manly,” he says.
“I left school in 1987, made Jersey Flegg (junior reps) in 1988, and the next year I played under 21s before debuting in first grade in 1990.”
Old schoolmates erected a makeshift ‘Tony Mestrov Stand on the Brookie Hill to mark the occasion, and a long career at the Sea Eagles appeared certain.
But a debilitating illness, the arrival of some big-name recruits, and a lust for new experiences limited the young prop’s stay to just 17 games.
Mestrov then enjoyed two successful seasons at South Sydney before heading to England, where he spent the next seven years playing for the London Broncos (in two separate stints) and the famous Wigan club.
“It was pretty limited back here. You’d finish the season, have a few weeks off and then be back into training. That was boring for me,” Mestrov recalls.
“I’d never travelled, but was always looking outwardly.
“Travel opened my eyes. I met different people from different countries and different walks of life.
“I realised there was more to life than football. I wanted to travel more and seek more knowledge, and I think that helped in my CEO life later.”
Only problem was, Mestrov didn’t immediately know how to get to his ultimate destination.
He was employed in sales at the Sea Eagles and Radio 2GB when he returned from England, but admitted his work career, at that stage, was ‘pretty underwhelming’.
Then came a left-field opportunity that set him on a path in sports administration.
Hockey NSW was conducting a root and branch overhaul of the sport and took a gamble on Mestrov being the man to deliver that change.
‘Being a CEO is not a very popular job’.
A return to rugby league as chief operating officer with Gold Coast followed before the biggest of all challenges – heading up Greyhound Racing NSW.
The sport had been abolished by the State Government following a damning report on greyhound welfare, before being given a stay of execution on tight new regulations.
“It was a really tough but successful five years,” Mestrov says. “The biggest thing I learned is being a CEO isn’t a very popular job. You have to make some tough decisions.”
The 53-three-year-old, who lives at Bayview with wife Alex and daughter Bella, has not resiled from those tough calls at Manly.
Des Hasler was removed as first grade coach amid much acrimony and others shuffled on – and new faces brought in – to facilitate change at every level.
“All my decisions have been made in the best interest of the club, not me personally,” Mestrov promises.
“It was all about setting a culture to take the organisation forward and also improving our competency in a lot of areas.
“That’s all the way from the boardroom to the boot room.”
By Adam Lucius
