Rabbitohs warned Broncos about Anthony Seibold’s weaknesses as a coach but it was too late
It is the most spectacular demise of a coach in the game’s modern history but Brisbane Broncos were warned about Anthony Seibold and his weaknesses by his former club South Sydney, Paul Crawley writes.
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South Sydney warned Brisbane about Anthony Seibold’s worrying tendency to struggle and react to scrutiny well before he took over from Wayne Bennett at the Broncos.
It’s understood Brisbane officials spoke with their Rabbitohs counterparts about Seibold’s strengths and weaknesses, and one issue pointed out was how the coach was susceptible to criticism.
Unfortunately for the Broncos the conversation occurred after the coaching swap was in full motion.
It seems a massive oversight in hindsight that better support structures weren’t put in place to guide Seibold.
Being the face of the biggest club in the NRL was always going to be a huge battle for a relatively young and inexperienced head coach.
There were also concerns about Seibold’s so-called thin skin when he was coaching Souths, while his propensity to want to over-coach and sell himself as the smartest man in the room was also a knock from some players.
It is understood it was kept in check at the Rabbitohs because they had such a strong senior leadership group that included the likes of Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis and John Sutton.
Seibold’s former assistant David Furner was also a real asset for the coach during his time in charge at Redfern.
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Furner was said to be a good judge at knowing when to tip to Seibold about backing off if he was being too controlling with the players.
While Seibold didn’t appear to learn from it when he went to Brisbane, perhaps it was also to do with the fact he didn’t have the same level of senior players and staff in place to help him through.
For that reason the people who put him in power surely have to share responsibility now for what is without question the most spectacular demise of a coach in the game’s modern history.
For all the sympathy Seibold has received in relation to how he was supposedly unfairly targeted by the Brisbane old boys and Wayne Bennett, and certainly there is no excusing the disgraceful online allegations made against him and his family, others suggest he was his own worst enemy because he never owned up to his short comings, which was dealing with pressure and criticism.
Regardless if it was unfair, that ultimately is what brought him undone.
Seibold even said following his “resignation” that the Broncos’ old boys should show the club more respect because they criticise more than former players at any other club and also that he didn’t realise there would be so many agendas at play.
But it again highlighted his glaring naivety.
The reality is if he had won more games he would have silenced his critics like Bennett did for all those years, and like Ricky Stuart has done at Canberra.
No coach in the game has put up with more constant criticism over the years than Stuart who has had to cop it year after year for nearly two decades now.
But one thing Stuart never does is let it beat him.
It’s just water off a duck’s back, and gets on with the job of coaching his team.
Not that he won’t go head-to-head with anyone who wants a crack, but it inspires him rather than deflates him.
It is why he has survived for as long as he has. That and the fact he can coach.
What can’t be disputed is that Seibold finished with the worst record of any coach in the Broncos‘ history, winning just 14 of 40 games for a 35 per cent success rate.
To put that in perspective Ivan Henjak won 53 per cent of his games while Anthony Griffin was 54 per cent and Wayne Bennett 64 per cent.
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