Lyon final piece in Manly jigsaw: Cleal When Jamie Lyon became available after his second season with English club St Helens in 2006, then-Manly coach Des Hasler told his recruitment guru Noel Cleal simply "you've got to get him." Cleal, who first recruited Lyon to Parramatta as a 16-year-old, knew the fleet-footed centre had wanted to return to the NRL since walking out on the Eels at the start of the 2004 season and going home to Wee Waa in rural NSW. And while plenty of good judges continue to marvel at how Lyon, now 31, seemingly gets better with age, Cleal and Hasler had no doubt he would shine at the Sea Eagles. We knew we were getting the best centre in the game. We knew," Cleal, who now works under Hasler at Canterbury, said on Thursday. He was only a baby when he was at Parramatta, but some of the stuff he did was based on pure talent. Yes he went to the bush and St Helens but when he came back we knew that raw talent was still going to be there. And then Des took him to another level. Lyon, Cleal argues, was the final piece in Hasler's premiership puzzle, putting the polish on the Sea Eagles to end a 12-year premiership wait in his second season at the club in 2008. "We'd worked out where the team was, and what we needed," Cleal said. It was all a process. First of all we signed (prop) Brent Kite (in 2005), then we knew we needed a halfback so we got Matt Orford (in 2006). We knew we had Brett Stewart at the back, and Matt Ballin was fine at hooker. We built it over a period of time. It was all purposely done. And Killer (Lyon) was a big part of putting the jigsaw together. Manly fans have plenty to thank Cleal for over his involvement in delivering the three-time Dally M centre of the year to the northern beaches. Despite the appeal of being coached by Hasler and working with an up-and-coming squad, Lyon freely admits it was Cleal who stopped him from fully entertaining offers from Penrith, Parramatta, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. "It was Crusher in the end," Lyon said. He got me over the line. Cleal, who has known Lyon since he was 10, has never doubted the centre's ability. He knew he had a star on his hands the first time he properly fixed eyes on Lyon the player, rather than Lyon the best mate of Cleal's oldest son Garth. He'd driven to Moree in country NSW to watch a 16-year-old Lyon in the under-18s competition at the request of former Manly and Sydney Roosters teammate John Harvey. "I drove in as they kicked off, but I had to drive round to the other side of the ground to get a park," Cleal said. And by the time I'd parked, he'd scored two tries. I thought 'geez, we've got a live one here'. (Harvey) rang me and said `there's a bloody good kid up here, you'd better come and sign him'. He didn't say 'come and have a look at him' he said 'come and sign him'. I actually signed him before I'd seen him play.