NRL 2021: Newcastle Knights players reveal Anthony Seibold’s key role in club’s success

A year after being dumped by the Broncos, Anthony Seibold has been praised by Newcastle players for helping to iron out a chink in their armour as they surge to back-to-back finals appearances.

Newcastle Knights assistant coach Anthony Seibold

One year after Brisbane unceremoniously sacked Anthony Seibold, Newcastle players have credited him with helping the Knights surge to back-to-back finals appearances for the first time in 18 years.

As Broncos coach, Seibold was accused of “over-coaching” and “overloading” players with data. At Newcastle, where Seibold is a consultant to head coach Adam O’Brien, stats have been replaced by “effort areas”.

“He has really narrowed our focus into all the small effort areas that there are no stats for,” forward Sauaso Sue said. “I think that has been shown in our defence. I’m really grateful for his input.”

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After 13 rounds, the Knights had leaked 342 points. But with two games left to play, only 180 points have been conceded since the midway point of the season.

Utility back Kurt Mann said Seibold has been crucial in turning Newcastle’s defence around.

Knights assistant coach Anthony Seibold has helped Newcastle tighten up their defence.

“We’ve defended a lot better compared to where we were at the start of the year,” Mann said. “There are a few areas we have improved in, effort areas, and that sort of stuff. We’ve had Anthony Seibold take over that role here.

“That’s what we’ve improved on and he’s been pushing really hard. What we call chase-backs and that kind of stuff.”

There had been speculation Seibold’s role within the Newcastle coaching staff had expanded.

But O’Brien told News Corp the former Broncos and South Sydney coach had stepped in as a temporary replacement for defensive coach Rory Kostjasyn, who did not immediately travel to the Sunshine Coast but has since rejoined the group.

Regardless of Seibold’s role, Knights players appear to be responding to his approach, which include weekly video sessions.

“He presents those [effort] areas for us in meetings and does our review in that area and that’s probably our biggest area for improvement was mid-year and I think we’ve improved massively in that area,” Mann said.

“We’re leaking less points and we are doing little things that probably the average person doesn’t really see at home. But they are massive when it comes into the meetings, they’re the stuff that the boys really get up for.

“We’ve been defending really well. We’ve been defending like a top eight team.”

Kurt Mann has praised Anthony Seibold’s influence on the Knights’ squad. Picture: Phil Hillyard

While the Knights have turned their defence around, Mann conceded his side is still “leaving points on the field”.

But Mann insisted the seventh-placed Newcastle have enough strike power to cement a finals berth with two rounds left to play, starting against fellow top-eight hopeful the Gold Coast Titans on Thursday night.

“We’ve got a lot of strike weapons on the field and we’d like to use them a bit better this week and leading into the weeks following,” Mann said.

“I don’t think we need to change too much [attack-wise], it’s just a couple of tweaks. It’s not a major restructure. It’s only got to be something small.

“For us, it’s about doing your part. You have got to be responsible for your part of the play. Playing unstructured it’s just part of the game now. It’s nothing major at the moment, it’s just a few tweaks to get to where we want to be and I’m confident we can do it.”

After losing NSW Blues forward Daniel Saifiti to a knee injury, Newcastle’s engine room suffered another blow after David Klemmer copped a one-week suspension.

Tyson Frizell is due back from an ankle injury, while Mitch Barnett, who was in some doubt with a knee complaint is expected to take on the Titans.

“I think everyone is back, bar Klemmer, who got suspended,” Mann said. “Frizell is back, I’m confident Barnett will be ready as well.”