Civoniceva warns against writing off struggling Brisbane
Broncos great Petero Civoniceva has “full faith” in coach Anthony Seibold, calling for patience despite Brisbane’s ordinary start to the NRL season.
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BRONCOS great Petero Civoniceva has called for patience following Brisbane’s poor start to the NRL season.
Under new coach Anthony Seibold, the Broncos have lost three of their first four matches, including Thursday night’s humiliating 36-4 loss to the Sydney Roosters at the SCG.
Brisbane’s emerging pack, talked up in the off-season, have failed to fire.
But former Broncos, Queensland and Kangaroos prop Civoniceva said it was too early in the season to write off Brisbane’s premiership hopes.
“I’m not losing any sleep over it,” he told The Courier-Mail.
“We’re talking April here. We’ve got a long way to go in the season.
“It’s one of those things that you through as a team that you have to endure together.
“There’s only one way to fight out of this situation, and that’s to keep working hard, and I’m sure coach Anthony Seibold and the team will be doing that.”
Civoniceva said after watching the Broncos’ hefty loss to the Roosters, his mind drifted back to Brisbane’s 1999 season when they lost their first five games and won just one of their first 10 matches before storming home to play finals football.
“We had to endure that, and we did, we found a way and we made it to the semi-finals,” he said.
“For this young group it’s all just about getting around them and supporting them through this.
“I have absolutely full faith in the players we have and the coach we have.”
Civoniceva backed Seibold to turn the Broncos’ form around and cope with the pressure of replacing supercoach Wayne Bennett.
“I’ve seen plenty from him to know that the best is yet to come. We’re going through a bit of a process at the moment,” he said.
“It would be great if we were talking four wins and no losses, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”
Originally published as Civoniceva warns against writing off struggling Brisbane
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