Anthony Seibold on his tough start to life in Brisbane, his plans for Anthony Milford

The Broncos are in the middle of the worst season in the club’s history; coach Anthony Seibold is taking a stand and putting several big name stars on notice.

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is seen during a press conference before Brisbane Broncos training at Clive Berghofer Field in Brisbane, Friday, June 28, 2019. The Broncos are playing the Knights in their round 15 NRL clash in Newcastle on Saturday. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING

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Anthony Seibold has opened up about Brisbane’s injury-ravaged year, insisting he has not written off their season as the besieged Broncos coach prepares to make Anthony Milford a career fullback.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s away clash against Cronulla, Seibold said struggling skipper Darius Boyd will not be pushed into retirement and assured Broncos fans the club is not falling apart.

The Broncos enter the clash at Sydney’s PointsBet Stadium confronting their worst season in the club’s 31-year history, languishing in 14th spot and needing to win eight of their last 10 games to make the playoffs.

Can Brisbane rally? AAP Image/Darren England.

But Seibold says the blooding of four debutants – Xavier Coates, Herbie Farnworth, Rhys Kennedy and Keenan Palasia – is evidence the future is now as he backs his youth policy to deliver Brisbane’s first title since 2006.

“There is optimism,” Seibold said.

“Broncos members and supporters need to stick solid through this tough time.

“It is a tough time for everyone within the club but there is so much to look forward to and that is what gets me out of bed every single day.”

THE FULLBACK BOMBSHELL

Since joining the Broncos in 2015, Anthony Milford – Brisbane’s first $1 million player – has played 113 of his 115 club games at five-eighth for a 61 per cent success rate.

Last week, Seibold made the shock decision to switch fullback Darius Boyd and five-eighth Milford, who played strongly against Newcastle at the back before injuring his knee, ruling him out of today’s Sharks clash.

The move was seen as a desperate roll of the dice by Seibold to kickstart Brisbane’s finals push. But explaining his tactical plan, Seibold says it is the first stage in reinventing Milford as a full-time No.1 next season.

Milford will stay at fullback. Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images.

“I have had this conversation with Darius and ‘Milly’,” Seibold told The Sunday Mail.

“I was always thinking about looking at this change next pre-season and trying to get Darius in and around the frontline as a number six and putting Milly at fullback.

“We thought we may as well bite the bullet and make the change for both guys and give them an extended run.

“After one week you don’t throw things on the scrapheap. I think it is a good thing for our team moving forward.”

MILFORD’S INJURY

Seibold is hopeful Milford, Brisbane’s most important attacking player, will return this season, but concedes surgery is inevitable.

“Anthony had a cortisone (injection) two days ago and we are hoping that he will be back next week. That is best case scenario,” he said.

“He has an MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) injury and it just needs to settle from a pain point of view.

“If it doesn’t settle then he will have to have a minor clean-out, which is four to six weeks (on the sidelines).

“We are hoping that he can get through but he will need an operation at some stage.

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“We are trying to hold it off until the end of the year because he is crucial to what we do.

“I want to have a look at ‘Milf’ in the fullback position before the end of the year so if we can get him back on the park sooner rather than later I will put him back to fullback and let him have an extended run there because I thought he showed some really good glimpses (against Newcastle).

“He brought the ball back really strongly and bobbed up around the place and was a real threat. The longer he plays in that position the more stability we get in our team. Milly is best for us in the short term as a fullback and maybe even in the long term once I have a good look at it.”

DARIUS’ FORM CRISIS

Skipper Darius Boyd has been rocked by reports he must fire against the Sharks or risk being axed to the Intrust Super Cup.

Boyd turns 32 on Wednesday week and is contracted to Brisbane until the end of 2021. As calls intensify for Boyd to retire at the end of the year, Seibold scuppered claims he has lost faith in his captain.

“There has been no thought of dropping Darius,” he said. “We have got a group that needs some experience. (Today against Cronulla) we go down there with 11 guys with less than 25 games, that is less than a season. We need Darius’s experience. I do believe that six (five-eighth) can be his position going forward. Darius has a contract here that Darius has agreed to and the club has agreed to. I don’t see Darius as our problem.

Boyd has endured a wretched season. Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images.

“We’ll have a look at Darius again at five-eighth at some stage. It’s unfair to criticise it after one week. After 15 minutes last week, he had to go to centre so people don’t see that.

“Darius prepares really consistently. It hasn’t always gone his way during games but in some ways he is an easy target, he wasn’t the worst player on the field (against Newcastle), but he missed a bad tackle on (Jesse) Ramien and I suppose that is the tackle everyone is talking about.

“Darius prepares really diligently. In some games, he has been very good for us and in other games, he has admitted he hasn’t been at his best. Just his experience and having him on the field tomorrow is important for us. We will continue to work with Darius and he has to keep preparing as well as he can. He is a good pro.”

SEIBOLD’S WARNING

The blooding of backline young guns Coates and Farnworth today is the final piece in Seibold’s premiership puzzle. Now the coach says every positions is up for grabs at Red Hill.

“It’s certainly the future with Herbie and Xavier, no doubt about that,” he said.

“Those guys are our future in the backline. You have seen our forwards and now we are bringing the backs through that can really make a stand.

Coates is one of four Broncos debutants this afternoon. AAP Image/Darren England.

“If Xavier Coates and Herbie Farnworth show what they have got they will keep the jersey. If Sean O’Sullivan plays well he will keep the seven jersey and that is the way it should be.

“I have shown during the year that I don’t play favourites. I’ve had to drop some guys and make some tough calls in and around some players in the group.

“Once you have got the jersey it is yours to keep.”

SEASON OF DISASTER

Seibold insists he has not given up hope this year in a season in which the Broncos were rated a top-four contender.

“I’m not sure about the finals,” he said.

“The last thing I need to be looking at is the ladder.

“What is important for me is to try and help the players get better and experience this challenging time. A lot of the young kids that we have got in the group have always been the very best in their age group and had a lot of success. This is probably the first time some of these guys have lost games or been under the pump and probably as a club it is a very different time for us.

“I knew that coming here that there was going to be a big change in the roster with a group of young guys.

“I came here with my eyes wide open. I certainly haven’t written the season off.”