Brisbane Broncos: Anthony Seibold’s biggest challenge coming from within
He may not see it, or admit to it, but Anthony Seibold’s toughest challenge as Brisbane coach is not quelling the firestorm of critics externally, it’s quelling the daggers coming at him internally.
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The toughest challenge Broncos coach Anthony Seibold faces as he fights to save his job is not quelling the firestorm of critics externally, but surviving the icy-cold daggers coming at him internally.
He may not see it, or admit to it, but Seibold is fast confronting a coach’s worst nightmare: losing the faith and trust of the employees on whom his livelihood ultimately depends – his players.
Right now, Broncos HQ is a place riven with uncertainty.
It goes beyond the obvious on-field signs of six straight losses and players breaking down after last week’s Warriors defeat, their tears palpable evidence of the internal stress that has shredded confidence at the Broncos.
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Seibold is battling something more imperceptible. There is internal angst and anxiety among the playing group.
It would be too harsh to suggest a revolt is taking place, but Seibold is precariously placed with Broncos players, many of whom do not feel the fatherly bonds they shared with his predecessor Wayne Bennett.
For more than 20 years, Seibold has regarded himself as a teacher of men, but he now needs a coach’s feel for the individual, rather than theoretical group instruction, to convince his players to bleed for him in the heat of battle.
This columnist has spoken to a number of people in and around the Broncos organisation to get an understanding of why the wheels have drastically fallen off under Seibold.
The feedback is disturbingly distinct. It paints a club on edge.
Some players are adamant Seibold, who heads into this week’s Bulldogs clash with a 39 per cent win record at the Broncos, can coach and possesses a tactical acumen that explains how he took Souths to the 2018 preliminary final.
One player believes Seibold is almost “too nice”, rarely giving them the behind-the-scenes rockets that Bennett and Craig Bellamy would have dished out in their supercoach careers.
Others find Seibold’s game plans and general advice too technical. One, in particular, feels totally overloaded with information – call it paralysis by analysis – to the point where he is confused by his role and what the coach expects of him on game day.
In pre-season, Seibold called playmakers Anthony Milford, Tom Dearden and Brodie Croft into his office. He proceeded to show a series of tactical moves for particular sections of the field, each segment requiring a particular move for a particular play.
For a free spirit like Milford, who operates on instinct, remembering each play was akin to asking him to solve Rubik’s Cube.
One player has been told to worry less about running and just pass the ball. Another has been ordered to run on the right side of the field only.
The joy has gone out of Brisbane’s football.
Seibold’s handling of James Roberts, who quit the Broncos last year to reunite with Bennett at Souths, is a window to the delicate art of man-management.
Roberts is high-maintenance and far from a choirboy, but as Bennett once said: “If I sacked every player I couldn’t work with, I’d have about three left. You have to make it work.”
The cerebral, fastidious Seibold never had simpatico with the raw, rough-around-the-edges Roberts.
In May last year, Roberts walked into Broncos CEO Paul White’s office. Mentally broken, he asked for a release. White, who worked overtime on Roberts’ off-field welfare, aware of his troubled upbringing, urged ‘The Jet’ to reconsider.
Roberts said he was miserable.
“I can’t handle the way the coach speaks to me,” Roberts said. “He doesn’t respect me. He talks down to me. I don’t trust him.”
Sacked by two previous clubs, there is an argument the Broncos are better off without Roberts, but there are other examples of players crying out for better lines of communication with their coach.
Last week, Corey Oates was initially dropped for the Warriors clash. When Matt Lodge was ruled out with a knee injury, Oates, gutted at being axed and craving feedback, discovered he was back in the side via text message.
It was ironic that Seibold wrote a column last week urging his players to have fun again, because there is a feeling the fun has gone out of life at the Broncos.
Many players are nervous, insecure and too scared to speak their minds for fear of offending the coach lest he refuses to pick them, or sack them altogether.
It may be that Brisbane’s players simply need to harden up. Maybe they are the problem, and maybe Seibold is the change agent who has had to shake a sleeping giant trapped in a 14-year premiership slumber.
But there is an old saying in rugby league – players make coaches, not the other way around.
If Seibold can’t connect with his men in the coming months, and find a window to their souls, his very own players will break him.