Manly’s signing of Des Hasler has opened the way for Trent Barrett to concentrate on his Outdoor Furniture Warehouse that had its beginnings this season while coaching at Manly.
Midway through the year, then-but-still-now Manly coach Trent Barrett outlined a series of problems he had with the NRL club.
His complaints included having to use his own furniture at the club; but this has led the way to an exciting new career opportunity.
“There weren’t enough seats in the dressing room, so I was forced to use some I had at home. Then I started buying them cheap on ebay. From there I started importing wholesale and next thing you know, ‘boom’ Barrett’s Outdoor Furniture Warehouse became a reality.”
The current-ex-Manly coach sees this as part of a holistic life philosophy.
“It’s all about turning a negative into a positive.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Barrett finally expanded on a number of issues that have plagued the club.
This included his family having to clean the gym and players having no lockers.
Barrett has not ruled out forming a cleaning company and importing lockers in the future, but for now is concentrating on furniture.
“This isn’t about me, it’s about ensuring the people of Manly have the best outdoor furniture moving forward,” Barrett said.
“All I’ve wanted to do is make Manly a better place, get it up to speed and in line with the 15 other NRL clubs surrounding suburbs and the person to seat ratio off the field.”
“You know there is a lot that more goes into having a winning team than just what’s on the football field or the training paddock – it’s also about bums on seats. I’m providing those seats.”
