Former Hull FC head coach Peter Gentle looks set for a new role at NRL outfit Manly Sea Eagles. That’s according to the Daily Telegraph who claim Gentle has been selected to become the Sea Eagles’ new head of football going into the 2025 campaign.
Gentle had been working as the club’s head of recruitment but he will now take on the more senior role which is likely to encompass most on-field related issues. The Sea Eagles finished seventh in the NRL ladder this season under the stewardship of head coach Anthony Seibold and Gentle can be expected to work closely with the former Hull KR man as they bid to build on that.
The 59-year-old is no stranger to the pressures of the NRL, of course, having replaced Seibold as head coach on an temporary basis at Brisbane Broncos back in 2020. Gentle had five games in charge of the Broncos and unfortunately lost all five before leaving the club to join St George Illawarra Dragons as an assistant coach.
He has also worked as an assistant at Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers, Cronulla Sharks and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Of course, his only permanent head coach role came with Hull FC, where he had two seasons in charge between 2012 and 2013. Gentle replaced Richard Agar in the hot seat and led the club to a sixth placed finish in his first season.
He managed to repeat the feat a year later before losing 76-18 to Huddersfield Giants in the play-offs. Gentle also took the Black and Whites to a Challenge Cup final that year, only to see his side beaten 16-0 by Wigan Warriors at Wembley Stadium. He left East Yorkshire shortly after that hammering by the Giants with Lee Radford, Gentle’s assistant head coach, taking on the reins.