South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold farewelled players before Wayne Bennett about-face

Anthony Seibold’s tenure at Souths is in tatters after he farewelled Rabbitohs players just minutes before Wayne Bennett blindsided his Broncos successor.

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Anthony Seibold’s tenure at Souths is in tatters after he farewelled Rabbitohs players just minutes before Wayne Bennett blindsided his Broncos successor by declaring his allegiance to Brisbane.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Bennett will move to smoke the peace-pipe with Broncos CEO Paul White and chairman Karl Morris on Saturday to ensure Brisbane’s 2019 premiership dream is not derailed by high-level in-fighting.

But Seibold faces a potential credibility crisis at Redfern after sensationally calling a meeting to inform players he was joining the Broncos – only to be left with egg on his face.

South Sydney players completed a morning training run on Friday and were about to start a weights session when Seibold summoned the entire group for a snap meeting.

Souths coach Anthony Seibold at training this week. He farewelled his players on Friday only to be blindsided by Wayne Bennett’s decision to stay at the Broncos. Picture: Brett Costello

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Rabbitohs sources say Seibold told the group he had received a phone call informing him Bennett was moments away from holding a press conference in Brisbane to announce he was joining South Sydney.

Seibold added that it would be his last day at the club. Rabbitohs players then offered their best wishes to Seibold, who was scheduled to fly to Brisbane on Friday afternoon to be unveiled as the Broncos’ new coach at a 4pm press conference.

But Seibold, Brisbane bosses and Rabbitohs hierarchy were left in a state of shock when Bennett called his own press conference to reveal he would not walk out on his beloved Broncos.

Souths players were contacting their managers on Friday night to express their dismay at Seibold’s bungled farewell and how on earth Bennett has managed to survive at Red Hill.

Bennett has barely spoken a word to White and Morris in the past two months, but privately concedes he must mend bridges with the pair for the sake of Brisbane’s title campaign next year.

South Sydney players at pre-season training. Picture: Monique Harmer

Bennett said Morris’ personal letter, exclusively obtained by the The Courier-Mail on Thursday, offering him a job for life at the Broncos is proof the super coach is wanted at the club.

“You read the article two days ago from Karl about the letter he gave me telling me I was here until 2019 and they offered me five years after that which I appreciated,” he said.

“I didn’t want to accept it at the time because I wanted to coach on. I don’t want to be an administrator yet, I don’t feel I’m ready for that. I spoke to him Saturday morning and he said he wanted me here for 2019 as well.

“I don’t think I have been critical of them publicly or personally.

Wayne Bennett announces on Friday he’ll be seeing out his contract at the Broncos and will coach the club next season, despite expectations he would do an immediate swap with Souths coach Anthony Siebold. Picture: AAP

“I have said things the way they were, I wasn’t trying to criticise anybody or point them out to anyone. I was left to carry a lot of things I felt I shouldn’t have carried last year. That’s behind us, we are moving on, we will all be one and we be the best team we can be.”

Bennett said he never wanted to leave Brisbane and felt he was being used as a pawn to alleviate Seibold’s potential problems at Souths after he rejected a Rabbitohs extension.

That, coupled with Bennett’s regard for Broncos players, fans and staff, convinced the 68-year-old to stay loyal.

“The drama hasn’t been me, it’s been everyone else,” he said.

“It never came from me. The deadline (5pm Friday) was there because the speculation was mounting and I was going back to training on Monday, so I didn’t want to spend two days at Broncos training and find myself somewhere else.

“The Souths move was never instigated by me. I did a contract with Souths for 2020 and ‘21. We never talked about 2019.

“I have a great relationship with the players and the Broncos fans. I just felt I’d be letting them down if I went a year before I should.

“I’ll go to training on Monday as coach of the Broncos for the next 10 months and I will do the absolute best job I can.”

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