Anthony Seibold assures Andrew McCullough of Broncos future
One of the first things Anthony Seibold did as Brisbane’s new coach was to ring Andrew McCullough amid claims he would bring Damien Cook with him from South Sydney.
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Andrew McCullough has been assured he is the Broncos’ long-term No. 9 under new coach Anthony Seibold, following reports Souths hooker Damien Cook was Brisbane-bound.
One of the first things Seibold did when he was officially named Brisbane’s coach for 2019 was to ring McCullough to put to bed claims he would bring Australian rake Cook with him from South Sydney.
Reports first emerged late last month that the Broncos had their sights on Cook, despite McCullough having three years left on his contract.
The Queensland hooker dismissed concerns around his future at the time, but did privately question whether there was any truth to the reports.
However, McCullough said he was finally given clarity on Sunday night when Seibold rang him to deliver the news that he viewed the 28-year-old as Brisbane’s No. 9 and would not chase Cook’s signature.
“Seibs has told me straight he wants me here,” McCullough said on Monday after his second training session under his new coach.
“I don’t know where all the other stuff comes from … it could be anything.
“You hear about it but I had another three years. You always want to know, that’s human nature for anyone.
“But it’s all hearsay. I’m happy in Brisbane, Seibs wants me here and I’m just trying to improve from last year.
“Everything’s out in the open, we move forward and we get on with it.”
McCullough also said he was not only happy to have clarity on his own future, but that of the whole club following the end of the coaching saga between Seibold and former Broncos mentor Wayne Bennett.
Seibold has wasted no time in putting the Broncos playing group to work since arriving in Brisbane on Monday morning, holding two training sessions within the space of 24 hours.
The Broncos first trained under the Rockhampton product on Monday at 1pm before hitting their old Red Hill field on Tuesday at 9.30am.
McCullough was the first player at training on Monday, arriving early alongside Seibold and his assistant coach Peter Gentle to talk tactics.
Seibold said upon his arrival that “the senior players are a big part of what I do as a coach and they’ll be allowed to have some responsibility within the program” and that was evident on Tuesday.
“The players are the ones out there playing so I think Seibs puts the ball in your court and makes you think about your role and how you can improve,” McCullough said.
“He was just picking my brain and vice versa about the way we should do things.”
The difference in Brisbane’s training under Seibold has also been immediately noticeable, given his philosophy around training harder than you would play in a game.
They have been mixing their conditioning drills with ball skills and defensive work, which has come earlier than it usually would in pre-season.
The Broncos have also been training at a higher intensity, which McCullough said has made an instant impact.
“I’ve certainly lost a bit of weight over the last couple of days,” he said.
“But it’s good. Variety is key. It needs to be (high intensity).
“There’s probably a nervous, sort of unknown vibe (at training) not having worked with Seibs and the rest of the coaching staff before.
“It’s finding out what they believe is the right thing to do and everyone getting on board with that and moving in the right direction.”
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Originally published as Anthony Seibold assures Andrew McCullough of Broncos future
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