Broncos coach Anthony Seibold turns to Eddie Jones, Nathan Buckley to help arrest poor start

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold has turned to a former Wallabies mentor and one of AFL’s best coaches in a bid to arrest Brisbane’s spluttering start to the season which sees them languishing in 13th spot.

Anthony Seibold is hoping this weekend is the turning point for the Broncos.

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold has turned to former Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones and Collingwood’s Nathan Buckley in a bid to arrest Brisbane’s spluttering start to the season.

Seibold is under mounting pressure to get results with the Broncos languishing in 13th spot and desperate to improve their dismal 1-4 record against the in-form Raiders on Sunday at Canberra’s GIO Stadium.

The Broncos have received a boost for the daunting road trip to the nation’s capital with strike centre James Roberts to start off interchange after missing the past fortnight with an Achilles injury.

Anthony Seibold is hoping this weekend is the turning point for the Broncos.

Seibold has had a rocky start to his Broncos career and the NRL’s reigning coach-of-the-year says he has reached out to some trusted associates in the wake of Brisbane’s gut-wrenching last-minute loss to the Wests Tigers.

Former Wallabies coach Jones, now with England, has been a long-time mentor for Seibold, who also sat in the box with Buckley on Thursday night in Collingwood’s thumping 123-61 win over the Brisbane Lions.

“I try not to listen to outside opinions, but I seek counsel from people I trust,” Seibold said ahead of Brisbane’s round-six clash against the fourth-placed Raiders.

“There’s one or two people who are experienced in rugby league or outside our sport that I chat to as mentors.

Anthony Seibold has been spending some time with Nathan Buckley this week.

“It’s important to have a mentor in any leadership role in life whether it’s the business or sporting world.

“I have constant communication with Eddie Jones, he is very good with his experience. He had a similar start to his Japanese club coaching career a few years ago so he’s one guy I talk to.

“Every coach goes through challenging times which is never ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.

“We are five games into a long season - I love what I do.”

Seibold relished his experience watching Collingwood coach Buckley from close range.

“Collingwood are a big club and it was reciprocal professional development,” he said.

Eddie Jones has been another source of inspiration.

“I sat in the box with Nathan Buckley on Thursday night and spent the day with their coaching staff.

“They were keen for me to come and observe and give my opinion on a few things and Justin Longmuir (Collingwood assistant coach) also spent the day with us.

“I love AFL and I talk to a lot of coaches from their code, so sitting with Nathan on game day was a really good experience.”

The Broncos completed their captain’s run on Saturday with Seibold confirming NSW Origin centre Roberts return to the top 17 at the expense of Gehamat Shibasaki.

“James will play,” Seibold said.

“He would prefer to start but I just think he’s been out for a couple of weeks.

“He will be on the bench, so we will make a tactical change at some point.

“His Achilles feels a lot better, his speed and power off the bench at some stage of the second half will be a weapon for us.

“The Raiders are No.1 in the comp for possession, they have had 55 per cent of the footy which is an extraordinary amount over the first five rounds.

“Their back five are marching down the field through the middle third so we need to get field position and possession and if we do that, we can put pressure on them.”

Originally published as Broncos coach Anthony Seibold turns to Eddie Jones, Nathan Buckley to help arrest poor start