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‘They Will Work Harder’ – John Manenti’s Plan To Turn San Diego Legion Into Shield Winners
Written by Joe Harvey | Photos by Griff Lacey
For the past decade, San Diego Legion’s new head coach, John Manenti, has been the beating heart of the Australia 7s program.
Coaching his country’s men’s and women’s teams at three Olympics, the 53-year-old guided his nation to two World Rugby SVNS titles (one men’s and one women’s) and was an assistant coach as the women’s side beat New Zealand to gold at the 2016 Games in Rio and silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Most recently, Manenti coached Australia’s men to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
But while the former front-row forward’s recent history is in the shortened format of the game, Manenti has a strong history in the 15-a-side game.
Between 2011 and 2015, he led Eastwood Rugby to three Shute Shield titles, an Australian Club Championship crown in 2015, and in 2010, was the Wallaroos’ head coach as the side finished third at the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
New leader ⚔️ New battlefield@john_manenti commands @SDLegion at Torero Stadium on the Quest For The Shield in 2025 #MLR2025 pic.twitter.com/zDoW0lsMOV
— Major League Rugby (@usmlr) January 7, 2025
Having taken his time figuring out the next chapter of his career, Manenti is relishing the opportunity to cut his teeth in the 15-a-side game again.
“After a really good campaign with the Aussie men’s, it was time to start looking at other things,” Manenti said.
“From the get-go, there was something about San Diego that appealed to me.
“They are so invested in their community and growing the game.
“Their ultimate aim of winning a championship is paramount, but they are focused on making rugby a mainstream sport in America and getting kids playing the game.
“All those things really appealed to me, things evolved, and the opportunity emerged here, and I got excited about getting stuck in.”
Manenti has taken charge of a Legion team that finished with an 11-5 record under Danny Lee in 2024 but was knocked out of the postseason by the Seattle Seawolves in a hotly contested Western Conference Semi-Final.
In seven seasons, San Diego has reached the postseason five times.
Two of those forays into the knockout rounds ended with the team painstakingly losing the Championship Final in the final stages of each fixture.
With a track record that speaks for itself and plenty of winner’s medals in his back pocket, it is clear that Manenti will expect plenty from his Legion players and will call on every resource to make the team go one step further in 2025.
“I am pretty simplistic,” Manenti said. “I am not overly technical or tactical. I am big on attitude and work-rate to drive players, trying to get the best out of them.
“If you ask people I have coached, they will probably say that my man management is my greatest skill.
“I think I am good at putting a team around me. I have really good tactical and technical support where needed. It seems to have been a successful formula for me.”
To support him, Manenti has retained the services of Alex Corbisiero as forwards coach, while Dave Clancy has almost nine years of collective experience coaching at various levels in the USA and arrived in California after two years with the Chicago Hounds.
Pooling all the knowledge he has at his disposal and his own experience, Manenti sees a large part of his job with San Diego as changing the mentality of the players who have experienced Playoffs heartbreak one too many times.
“That is really a big part of what my challenge and role here; to get these guys to understand that they are one of the most consistent teams in the regular season since the start of the competition,” Manenti said.
“Everyone sees them as a strong team but is quick to point out they have choked or underperformed at the business time of the season.
“A big part of my role here is to try and get them the chance to compete at that time of year, but especially when we get to that time of the year, that pressure comes from working hard for 20 weeks.
“You don’t just win a final on the day. You don’t just win a quarter-final because of luck.
“You earn it every time you play. Getting them to understand that is one of my great challenges.”
Legion has brought back several key figures in recent seasons.
Nate Sylvia, Tiaan Loots, Marcel Brache, and Tomas Aoake are all back for another shot at the Shield after seeing it slip through their fingers in 2023.
There are also key additions in the squad too as USA international Tavite Lopeti, Samoa’s Brook To’omalatai, and Australia’s Jed Holloway all bolster the squad, while there are also returns for Richard Judd and Shilo Klein after spending 2024 plying in their trade back home in New Zealand.
Manenti’s time in charge of San Diego will start against bitter Western Conference rivals, the Seattle Seawolves.
It is a clash that will invoke memories of the 2019 Championship Final and Brad Tucker’s last-gasp try that helped Seattle go back-to-back. And it will be played at the same venue.
Returning to Torero Stadium following a three-year hiatus in a supporter-led decision to move away from the team’s supporters, Legion will hope to turn their home ground into a fortress.
After arriving in SoCal, Legion got straight onto the training field to allow Manenti, Corbisiero, and Clancy to establish their game plan and set the wheels in motion for another shot at glory.
“I am about consistency,” Manenti said. “The switch has been turned on now, and it won’t be turned off until the end of June.
“They turn up every day, every session, every week, and they do the work so that it is embedded in their mentality of who they are and how we do things. That is our identity.
“I am not the most tactical or technical, but I am a tough taskmaster.
“They will be more disciplined than they have been in the past. They will work harder than they have in the past.
“That will take us a lot further than we have been in the past.”
Learn more San Diego Legion’s journey in MLR and growing rugby in America. Quest For The Shield Documentary out now on Amazon Prime
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