Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold says quitting would send the wrong message
The Broncos are on track for their worst season in their 32-year history after throwing away a 26-18 lead against the Sharks. But coach Anthony Seibold says resigning would set a bad example.
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Anthony Seibold has sent a defiant message to Broncos bosses, insisting he won’t resign as coach in the wake of Brisbane’s latest capitulation against the Sharks.
The Broncos are on track for the worst season in their 32-year history with the Sharks’ remarkable three-try fightback in the final 10 minutes consigning Brisbane to their ninth loss in 10 games.
The 15th-placed Broncos have the worst differential in the NRL with minus 205 points and must win seven of their final eight games to have any hope of qualifying for the playoffs.
Based on Brisbane’s wafer-thin defence this season, the Broncos have as much chance of making the finals as winning Powerball and the pressure on the besieged Seibold has reached breaking point.
Broncos chairman Karl Morris said last week that Seibold’s tenure would be reviewed at season’s end and the former Dally M coach of the year stood firm after the Sharks collapse, making it clear he won’t fall on his sword.
Asked if he will see out the season after the 36-26 loss, Seibold said: “I believe so, I certainly won’t be quitting.
“It’s not the type of example that this group needs to see or wants to see (Seibold giving up before the season is complete).
“Everyone can see where we are heading, it was a better performance than some of our other games.
“It’s not my decision (on his future) — but I won’t be quitting.”
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The Broncos, languishing in second-last with three wins from 12 games, have produced some diabolical performances this season, but they were more committed on Friday night and looked in control at 26-18 with 10 minutes to play.
But the final stretch reeked of a team that has simply forgotten the art of winning.
Instead of nailing Cronulla’s coffin shut, the Broncos shot themselves, with Tom Dearden’s inability to defuse a short dropout leading to Sione Katoa’s try in the 70th minute to whittle Brisbane’s lead to 26-24.
Then came pure heartbreak. A Ronaldo Mulitalo kick in-field saw Sharks rookie Connor Treacy cross in the 75th minute and when prop Braden Hamlin-Uele barged over, the Broncos were left bewildered and broken.
Seibold lamented Brisbane’s feeble defensive efforts which kept the Sharks in the hunt.
“It’s the story of our year,” Seibold said.
“The frustrating part is we just aren’t good enough defending our errors.
“For a large portion of the game we did a good job, but we didn’t do it for 80 minutes. We dropped the ball from that restart (Dearden’s fumble) and didn’t get the ball back and they scored three tries.
“We’re just hurting ourselves.”
Broncos veteran Darius Boyd was outstanding in his return to fullback and Seibold lauded the effort of his former skipper.
“Darius was outstanding, he didn’t deserve to be in a losing team, defensively he was everywhere,” he said.
“He wanted to play fullback for a while and he did a fantastic job.”
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Originally published as Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold says quitting would send the wrong message