What is Manly DNA? & Which clubs are getting it right in '26

Paul Kent returned to Kenty Blitz for the first time in a while, joining Warren Livingstone for a deep dive into Manly's systemic problems, the clubs getting it right, and why the competition's fancied teams all fell over on the same weekend.

Manly's real problem runs deeper than coaches

Kent wasted no time identifying what he believes is the root cause of Manly's dysfunction, pointing to ten CEOs in twelve years under Scott Penn's ownership as the clearest evidence of a club in permanent rebuild mode.

"Every time you change your coach, he comes in with a completely different playing style. Very few Manly coaches are lasting the three years to turn the roster over. They're in a constant state of rebirth."

Kent dismissed the "Manly DNA" argument pushed by the club's old boys, noting the Broncos made the same Queensland-only claim twelve months ago before a New South Wales coach led them to the premiership playing a style nothing like Wayne Bennett football.

"What is Manly DNA? If you pulled Anthony Watmough, Glenn Stewart and Steve Menzies, put them in a room and said what's Manly DNA, I reckon you get different answers."

The real need, Kent argued, is alignment from chairman to CEO to coach to players, the kind of structure that has driven sustained success at the Roosters, Raiders and Melbourne.

"You've got to organise your footy staff like you organise your team. You've got to have the right amount of veterans as you do rookies. Manly keep turning it all over hoping they're going to fluke on the solution. You can't fluke on the solution."

Chasing Frank Ponissi

Reports that Manly are pursuing Melbourne Storm's Frank Ponissi as general manager of football drew a blunt response from Kent.

"No chance. He won't get the job unless they offer him something remarkable. He's got no interest in it."

Kent pointed out that Ponissi had already knocked back Collingwood, one of the biggest sporting clubs in the country, and has spent more than two decades building one of the elite club cultures in world football alongside Craig Bellamy.

"I buy the confidence of it, but it's wasted energy. I don't think they're going to get him."

As alternatives, Kent suggested Melbourne's head of performance as someone who has absorbed the Storm's methods from the inside, or an experienced coach like Brad Arthur who can handle both the football and administrative side.

"Brad Arthur is only 51. He started coaching at Parramatta when he was 37. He's still in touch with the game at that level and he learned hard lessons at Parramatta that he won't repeat."

On Matt Ballin, widely touted as the frontrunner, Kent acknowledged his qualities as an educator but flagged the lack of hands-on experience as a risk.

"If they're going to put a rookie coach in, fine. But put someone around him who's got their head in the game."

The clubs getting it right

Kent ran through the clubs with strong structural alignment. Canterbury, where Phil Gould handles everything above the coaching line and Ciraldo just coaches. The Roosters, where Nick Politis provided the scaffolding for Trent Robinson to develop. Cronulla, where the chairman, board and Fitzgibbon are all rowing in the same direction.

"That's the important thing. They're all rowing in the same direction."

On the Raiders, Kent praised Ricky Stuart and the club's decision years ago to invest heavily back into their junior pathways after the English recruiting pipeline dried up.

"Ricky had the conversation with Don Furner. It's going to take three or four years for this to come to fruition. But look at the kids they've got now."

On the Tigers, Kent was measured despite their strong start, crediting the influence of Jerome Luai and Adam Doueihi in bringing Penrith's winning culture across.

"Benji's got the ego strength to sit back and say these guys have done it, they know what it looks like, and he's taken their advice. But the flowers aren't blossoming just yet. They're still a long way from the finished product."

Why the top teams all fell over

With the Warriors, Storm and Bulldogs all losing to lower-ranked opposition on the weekend, Kent offered a simple explanation.

"It's very difficult in the NRL to win two games in a row. The mental energy required to stay there, mate."

He expects most to bounce back, with one exception.

"I expect them all to bounce back this week. Except maybe Melbourne. They've got the Panthers."