Matty Johns on how rookie South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold rebuilt the Rabbitohs
TAKING over a team packed with proven champions, South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold could’ve played it safe. Instead, the rookie coach rewrote the playbook, writes MATTY JOHNS.
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ANTHONY Seibold has brought about much change at the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs and it was needed.
Luckily for Seibold, he inherited a squad which was used to hard work and discipline, the Rabbitohs players had been very well schooled by former coach Michael Maguire.
But they needed to change the way they played football.
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The Bunnies won a title through their midfield power game but defences grew wise, tightened their middle and started to understand Souths’ attacking formations as well as the Rabbitohs
themselves.
Suddenly Souths’ big men couldn’t dominate the middle, there was too much congestion.
Where once the Bunnies’ size dominated, it suddenly made them look vulnerable and cumbersome.
The game had changed too. The best teams had ventured away from structured attack, they instead, used more flexible attacking principles and allowed their players to be more reactive with the football.
The Storm had won the 2017 premiership by tearing up some of the golden rules of attack. Melbourne weren’t afraid to attack from edge to edge, it was unorthodox and they were rewarded for it.
Seibold took a risk and brought about change at Redfern.
It was a risk because it would’ve been tempting for Seibold to make only subtle changes, believing the return of Greg Inglis and the signing of Dane Gaigai enough to see Souths, maybe slip into the eight, and the Rookie coach be given a pass mark.
Rather than play it safe, Seibold rewrote the playbook.
The Bunnies of 2018 have loosened their structure, and now present an attacking threat which is capable of playing sideline to sideline football.
As a consequence the middle field has loosened, and the likes of Tom and George Burgess have re-emerged to their best when most were questioning, at the beginning of the season, how Seibold could afford to carry them in his squad.
The other big beneficiaries have been Cody Walker and Damien Cook.
Walker is one of the best instinctive playmakers in the competition, and with Seibold wanting more football in the halves’ hands and encouraging them to play to what they see, Walker has exploded.
Meanwhile, Cook’s impact on this season best symbolises how the new Bunnies’ attacking style has loosened up the middle of the football field.
Souths’ ball movement fatigues the middle defenders and Cook is carving them up, week in, week out. He’s gone from being a player of potential to a genuine star with one hand on a New South Wales Origin jersey.
It’s not just the willingness to change, Anthony Seibold showed courage in holding his nerve as the Bunnies suffered a slow start to the season as they adjusted to their new style of play.
In the Round one loss against the Warriors, Souths found it difficult to find the balance in their game.
They poured too much energy into their attack, which resulted in errors and left them defensively vulnerable.
In the round two loss to Penrith the Rabbits enjoyed a great first half, but again, errors and defensive discipline saw the Panthers score a come-from-behind victory.
At this point a lot of coaches would’ve reverted back to a tighter, more structured game, but Seibold backed himself and trusted his players, encouraging them to open their attack up even further and find the defensive energy to match.
Last week they found their balance perfectly.
They attacked with confidence and vigour, and defended with aggression.
So a new challenge appears.
In 2018 little was expected of Souths Sydney but suddenly expectations have risen dramatically.
The word premiership has even been mentioned in some dispatches, which no doubt made the new coach cringe. Knowing much more improvement will be needed before they even think about emulating the feats of 2014.
Originally published as Matty Johns on how rookie South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold rebuilt the Rabbitohs
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