Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold hits back at ‘rebuild’ call
Anthony Seibold has disputed claims from Broncos chairman Karl Morris that he needs time to rebuild Brisbane’s roster and maintain’s he’s the right man to fix club’s form crisis.
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The Broncos have been plunged into front-office confusion, with embattled coach Anthony Seibold disputing claims from his own chairman that he needs time to rebuild Brisbane’s roster.
In the lead-up to Saturday night’s clash against the Warriors in Gosford, Seibold has vehemently denied suggestions he asked for a grace period to turn Brisbane into a title force in the post-Wayne Bennett era.
On Sunday, Broncos chairman Karl Morris defended the club’s slump to 15th place, saying: “When Anthony arrived in 2018, he brought it up as an issue that it’s going to be a tough two or three years because of the nature of our roster and the youth in the club.”
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Morris’ stance triggered a savage riposte from former Broncos coach Bennett, who slammed Seibold’s inability to extract the best of a Brisbane roster that contains 12 players with Test or Origin experience.
But Seibold has delivered his own version of events, insisting he has never made excuses and rejecting assertions he told Morris he needed at least two years to get the Broncos firing.
“Not at all,” he said. “I have never criticised the roster publicly or privately.
“Every single conversation I have had is about how we can continue to grow the group and the exciting part is we have so many guys in the zero-to-30 game region.
“I have never said anything else different to that.”
Seibold also moved to clarify speculation he would look to bolster his team of assistants to get the Broncos back into finals contention.
Steve Kearney has been linked with a return to the Broncos to help Seibold, but the sacked Warriors coach has since ruled out coming back to Red Hill.
That could leave the door ajar for Queensland Origin coach Kevin Walters.
Seibold revealed he called Walters on Thursday, but insists he did not discuss a formal job offer with the Broncos legend.
“I feel really well supported by our assistant coaches. Peter Gentle and Kurt Richards do a really good job,” Seibold said.
“They are very diligent and hardworking, both have great experience.
“I spoke to ‘Kevvie’ (on Thursday), not about a job, but I reached out and had a chat.
“We have always had a really strong relationship.
“As you all know, there is a COVID restriction, so that’s one of the reasons Corey Parker (forwards coach) can’t come into the group.
“He is working in the media so we can’t bring anyone in from outside our group. Steve Kearney is a name that has been mentioned, but we have Peter Ryan on two days a week and I feel really well supported by Peter and Kurt.”
SEIBOLD: I’LL SACK MYSELF IF I HAVE TO
— Peter Badel
Underfire Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold insists he can fix the club’s form crisis but says he will sack himself if he believes he is not the right man to rebuild the Broncos.
And in a forthright press conference on Thursday at Red Hill, Seibold disputed club chairman Karl Morris’ claims that the coach told him he needed two or three years to rebuild Brisbane’s roster following the sacking of Wayne Bennett.
Seibold also revealed he has contacted Queensland Origin coach Kevin Walters, who has offered his services as an assistant, although the Broncos mentor says they did not discuss a formal job offer.
The Broncos are embroiled in one of the darkest chapters in the club’s proud history with Seibold under immense pressure to snap a five-match losing streak against the Warriors this Saturday at Gosford.
Broncos bosses are adamant they are backing their five-year investment in Seibold, but the 45-year-old insists he is not complacent and says he will fall on his sword first if he believes he cannot take the club to a premiership.
“It (his future) has been widely spoken about, Karl (Morris) is fully supportive, he has signed me to a five-year deal and nothing has changed in that respect,” Seibold said.
Asked if he truly feels safe for five years, he said: “Well, I don’t look two or three weeks down the track in terms of job safety.
“If at some stage, the Broncos don’t think I’m the right person for the job, then that’s their decision.
“I have a really strong contract there, it’s not performance-based, but at the end of the day, I’ll know if I’m not the right person for the job.
“I won’t need anyone else to tap me on the shoulder.”
Seibold rejected suggestions he told chairman Morris he needed time to rebuild the Broncos — a sentiment that triggered a savage spray from his predecessor Wayne Bennett.
“Not at all,” he said.
“I have never criticised the roster publicly or privately.
“Every single conversation I have had is about how we can continue to grow the group and the exciting part is we have so many guys in the zero-to-30 game region.
“I have never said anything else different to that.”
Seibold has been buffeted by claims he is losing the dressing-room but the 2018 Dally M coach of the year at Souths says he has the experience and track record to guide the Broncos back into finals contention.
“I have great belief in what we are doing,” he said.
“I have been in this position before. I have taken the last two teams (Souths and the Broncos) to the semi-finals and I know I can get the group out of this.
“We are sticking together solidly, the back office and front office and the football department, and we are working to get better.
“In response to the external commentary, the last couple of weeks have been pretty intense, we have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard, but internally there has been no loss of belief.
“One of the biggest things I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks during some trying time for our club is that willingness to stick together.
“Our relationships are really strong across our playing group and our staff and we are working hard to get better. We have the opportunity to do that this weekend against the Warriors.”
Steve Kearney has been linked with a return to the Broncos to help Seibold but the sacked Warriors coach has ruled out coming back to Red Hill.
That could leave the door ajar for Walters, with Seibold confirming he has reached out to the Broncos legend.
“I feel really well supported by our assistant coaches. Peter Gentle and Kurt Richards do a really good job,” Seibold said.
“They are very diligent and hard working, both have great experience.
“I spoke to ‘Kevvie’ yesterday, not about a job but I reached out and had a chat to Kev.
“We have always had a really strong relationship so it was great to have a chat to him.
“As you all know, there is a COVID restriction so that’s one of the reasons Corey Parker (forwards coach) can’t come into the group.
“He is working in the media so we can’t bring anyone in from outside our group. Steve Kearney is a name that has been mentioned but we have Peter Ryan on two days a week and I feel really well supported by Peter and Kurt.
“We were in exactly the same situation last year and we were able to turn it around by working really hard. Our squad has really impressed me in trying to get better. That gives me great confidence going forward.”
SEIBOLD IN SIN BIN: COACH CAN’T TAME BAD BOY BRONCOS
—Peter Badel and Travis Meyn
Brisbane’s board has quizzed under fire coach Anthony Seibold on his squad’s slack discipline following revelations the Broncos are the worst behaved team in the NRL.
The Broncos have conceded a record 54 penalties in seven games and are the only NRL team to have been pinged more than 50 times this season heading into Saturday night’s clash against the Warriors in Gosford.
The NRL’s match-review committee has hammered the Broncos this season, with Joe Ofahengaue, Tevita Pangai Jr, Pat Carrigan and Tom Flegler having already served suspensions for foul play.
The raft of penalties has gone down like a lead balloon with Broncos bosses, who have asked Seibold for a ‘please explain’ on the ill-discipline that has sent Brisbane crashing to 15th spot following five consecutive losses.
Seibold is equally baffled by Brisbane‘s inability to stay out of trouble and tabled a plan to the board to address their dismal form over the next four-week block - starting against the Warriors.
Broncos halfback Brodie Croft said Brisbane‘s poor attitude with NRL referees threatens to derail their finals hopes.
“Our discipline is really hurting us,” Croft said.
“We can do all we want and try to get the ball to the other end of the field, but if we keep giving away penalties and set restarts, our opposition will march down the other end of the field and that puts pressure back on us.
“When that happens, we are having to work hard to get back into the match.
“Once we have teams on the ropes, we need to hold that pressure on them and make them crack instead of us being the ones to crack by giving away penalties.”
The bad boy Broncos have chalked up offences in 13 different categories this season.
Some of the breaches include repeated high tackles, hands in the ruck, off-side, holding down, ball stripping and not being square at marker.
In Brisbane‘s 20-18 loss to Manly in round five, the Broncos were caned 12-2 in the penalties, including an 8-0 second-half carve-up that helped the Sea Eagles fight back from an 18-0 deficit.
“At the end of the day, it‘s all about ill-discipline and it comes back to our mental approach,” Croft said.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable at training and then in match situations _ we can‘t let our attitudes slip.
“I felt we took a step in the right direction last week against the Titans but when you give too many penalties away, the pressure gets put back on yourself when you should be trying to put pressure on the opposition.”
As a comparison, the NRL’s best behaved side, Manly, have conceded just 27 penalties _ exactly half of the Broncos’ tally.
Broncos coach Seibold said there is no excuse for his players being at loggerheads with NRL match officials.
“It’s almost like we were guinea pigs for the first couple of weeks, we were always the first game of the round,” Seibold said before last week‘s loss to the Titans.
“We were really competitive against the Eels (in round three), but there was a number of times we gave away six-again.
“The next week the referee was really heavy around policing the ten metres. It’s about adjusting to that.
“As a coach you’ve always got to take responsibility ... the players can also help themselves.”
BAD BOY BRONCOS
Most penalties conceded this season
BRONCOS 54
SOUTHS 49
CRONULLA 43
GOLD COAST 43
MELBOURNE 42
TYPES OF OFFENCES
High Tackle: 6
Hands in ruck: 6
Off-side: 5
Holding Down: 5
Ball stripping: 4
Marker not square: 4
Obstruction: 2
Originally published as Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold hits back at ‘rebuild’ call