FOR the last 16 years Barry Gibson has been the constant theme at the Manly Sea Eagles, so it came as a surprise when he finally made it known the 2019 NSW State Cup would be his last.
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Gibson went out as a winner as the Sea Eagles avenged last year's semi-final exit when they defeated Eastern Suburbs 5-4 in the women's open final on Sunday.
It was Manly's fourth State Cup trophy in five years.
The coach has almost done it all with them after steering the club through four successful Vawdon Cup campaigns and three National Touch League victories.
"When we first started we were down the bottom of the table and didn't have anyone in any (representative) squad or anything like that and we built from nothing," he said.
"With the victories over the last four years the girls have gotten better and better; they now have belief in themselves.
"It's so enjoyable to be a part of their development and friendship and everything like that that goes with it.
"When you first start coaching it's really easy to motivate, but when you start to win it's a different challenge as a coach; it's harder because complacency comes into it a little bit."
Six weeks ago the club had it all to do after being defeated 5-0 by Canterbury in the Vawdon Cup.
Gibson then created the training program which enabled the team to bounce back and lift the State Cup silverware.
But it was all with a team-first mentality.
"It was not about me going out or people retiring, it was all focused on the team and the team comes first," he said.
"That's the way we've always done it and we needed every bit of it for this campaign."
The coach said there had been many highlights in his time at the club, but there wasn't any State Cup success that had been more satisfying.
"They're all a little bit different," he said.
"The first one is the toughest one to win and then you build a bit of confidence about your game and then you get a bit stronger.
"This one there was a lot of belief because the girls had to work for each other for a long period of time.
"For six weeks we had to come together as a group and they did it."
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