So which one is it? Broncos mixed messages over Seibold sack clause show club is in ‘utter disarray’
Another day and yet more confusion about the future of Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold. Does he have a performance clause or not?
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Another day and yet more confusion about the future of Anthony Seibold.
The under-siege coach has endured a torrid few weeks with the Broncos losing their last six games straight.
Is he heading for the sack?
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Quite possibly. Complicating matters is the fact that Seibold signed a five-year deal with a further option in his favour when he quite the Bunnies at the end of 2018.
If the Broncos board pulled the trigger they leave themselves open to a massive payout.
Or so we thought. Ever since the club’s form slump, including two record losses (58-0 to the Eels in last years finals and 59-0 to the Roosters in Round 4 of 2020), questions have been asked about Seibold’s contract.
Is there a performance clause in there that would allow the Broncos to cut their losses?
According to board member Darren Lockyer there is no clause.
“There’s a long-term contract there for Seibold,” Lockyer said last month. “The clause that you’re referring to I know nothing about, it mustn’t be there from a board perspective because if there was I would know about it.
Chairman Karl Morris has confirmed that in separate interviews while Seibold has said he is unaware of any clause in his press conferences.
“I’ve got a really strong contract there, it’s not performance based,” Seibold said last week.
But on Monday the water got slightly murkier.
In an interview with Nine’s 100% Footy, CEO Paul White said there was a clause which would allow the Broncos to sack the underperforming coach.
“There’s performance measures in every contract, so to say there’s no performance measures in Anthony’s contract’s certainly not true,” White told Channel 9.
Confused? So are we, and so was Nine’s Danny Weidler on Tuesday’s Big Sports Breakfast.
Weidler stated that it showed the Broncos were in “disarray”.
“We had Paul White on last night and look to be honest he gave a lot of waffle and not a lot of real answers,” Weidler said. “But the one answer he did give was that there are performance marks that Anthony Seibold has to meet in his contract.
“We had previously been told that there were no such things. His contract was just a pure contract and he could just march on regardless. I put it on Paul White last night and he admitted that.
“So, perhaps it’s a bit of face-saving from the Broncos management because if there wasn’t some sort of performance indicator in his contract it would be a terrible deal done by their management and the management would have to have some heavy questions to answer.
“I put it to White, suggesting that the reason he can’t be sacked is that White would have to sack himself and the board and chairman would have to stand down and he didn’t like that question and didn’t give an answer.
“It’s a massive drama, they're not singing from the same hymn sheet are they? That maybe indicates why the Broncos have some serious problems. Paul White is considered to be a very competent administrator.
“I think he’s taken his eye off the ball, he's got his eyes on a position somewhere else for next year.
“To give an answer like that where he says there are things Seibold has to meet, then a board member and Seibold says there’s not, we in the media are free to speculate. But to me it shows that the organisation is in complete and utter disarray.”
Originally published as So which one is it? Broncos mixed messages over Seibold sack clause show club is in ‘utter disarray’