Robert Craddock comment: Why Anthony Seibold needs to quit now
You can’t unscramble an omelette, and this Broncos omelette is a particular mess. That’s why Anthony Seibold needs to swallow his pride and leave immediately, making way for Kevin Walters to take over, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.
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Anthony Seibold should accept the Broncos severance offer for the sake of his club, his family and his sanity ... and not in that order.
Sometimes the brave call is to quit while you are behind, to go rather than stay for the sake of personal pride, especially when there are extra factors in the mix such as a family crisis and a social media war you can never truly win.
It would not be a shock if Seibold rejects the deal offered to him by the Broncos because the very thought of leaving early will rub against the grain of his hard-nosed personality.
He is, by his own proud admission, “no quitter”.
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It’s what made him a good coach in the first place and it’s why he is a chance of learning from this whole miserable mess and fighting back.
But this one’s done. Over. Finished. Kaput. Neither side gains anything from stringing it out until the end of the season – for the same result.
You cannot unscramble an omelette.
The golden rule of the hiring and firing of rugby league coaches is that the man who presided over a mess as bad as this one cannot solve it himself.
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You need fresh eyes. Fresh plans. Positive talk not weighed down by horrible recent memories.
Once a coach has lost or is losing the players – as is the case in Brisbane – it is generally the role of the next coach to find them again.
The push for Kevin Walters is understandable because his popularity would send an instant sugar shot through the whole Broncos operation.
This is one of the rare occasions when the “vibe” of a coach is almost as significant as his coaching credentials. Everyone loves Kev. That doesn’t buy you a premiership but it does buy you a peaceful, optimistic off-season ... a start.
That the Broncos board have offered to buy out Seibold’s contract when they had previously guaranteed he will stay until the end of the season is proof it is now a matter of when, not if, he leaves the club.
He will go this week or he will go in five weeks. But he won’t be there next year.
The best course is to go now where it can be claimed, in total truth, the additional stresses of a serious family issue and a nasty cyber attack made his life unbearable.
Otherwise the next five weeks will be like having five teeth pulled.
A token win or two would mean nothing. And it’s hard to see where they would come from anyway.
The Broncos have dug themselves into a giant hole by giving Seibold a five-year deal with a sixth in his favour.
It has been speculated Seibold is on $800,000 a year which means that, if he wanted to be hard-nosed about it, could ask upwards of $2.4 million for the remaining three or four vacant years of his contract.
If he decides to leave Seibold has the right to expect a handsome payout.
One of the reasons he favoured the Broncos rather than stay at South Sydney was the Rabbitohs deal was structured too heavily in favour of the club in any event he was sacked.
The Broncos deal was a much cleaner contract – in his favour.
Brisbane committed to this extraordinary deal and at some point they will have to pay the price for it.
It might be now. It might be in five weeks’ time.
But it’s coming and the sooner it comes the better ... for everyone.