Broncos’ demise can be traced back to rejection of Wayne Bennett’s succession plan
If only the Brisbane Broncos listened to Wayne Bennett, the biggest stuff up in rugby league’s professional era might not have happened.
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Now is not the time to put the boot into Anthony Seibold.
But if only the Brisbane Broncos listened to Wayne Bennett in the first place, the biggest mess in rugby league’s modern era might have been averted.
Because what we see working so well at South Sydney right now is exactly the coaching transition Bennett proposed for the Broncos long before he was sacked.
What Bennett wanted was to continue coaching for the 2019 season before promoting Jason Demetriou to co-coach for what would have been this year.
Bennett actually called a secret meeting with chairman Karl Morris and chief executive Paul White in the early part of the 2018 season when he first sensed trouble was brewing.
At the time the media was constantly hounding Bennett about his future, and throwing up names of rival coaches, including Paul Green and Craig Bellamy, as candidates.
Having been around long enough to know where there is smoke there is fire, what also pricked Bennett’s curiosity was the fact White and Morris had gone particularly quiet. But instead of sitting back and having a sook, Bennett tackled them head-on.
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There’s no question he initially wanted to continue coaching into 2020. But after being told a flat ‘no’ from White, Bennett proposed the co-coaching concept like he entered with Don Furner at Canberra in 1987 – with him coming in as the “junior” (but main tactician) before a planned succession from the old master Furner in 1988 (an offer from the fledgling Broncos ended that plan though).
While Bennett’s first choice would have been to promote his Broncos assistant Demetriou, Bennett was more than willing to work with Kevvie Walters or whoever the club wanted.
After the 2020 season, Bennett said he would have happily stepped back but stayed around for another couple of years to make sure the transition succeeded.
But the Broncos didn’t want a bar of it.
What they wanted was to push Bennett into a back room and take his power.
So after missing out on Bellamy, the hunt for Seibold started.
While his critics always claim Bennett has never been really successful at pitching up his replacements, the difference here is that Bennett saw this as part of his legacy. And he wanted to make it work.
But no, White and Morris wanted to show their independence, and how the Broncos could thrive outside of Wayne’s World with them leading the transition – and have us all believe a new era with new, modern ways was the journey to success at the club that craves it, demands it, more than any other.
With a 45-year-old new-age Seibold instead of the old-school Bennett approaching 70. Trouble was … they picked the wrong man. You know what they say about never choosing a boy to do a man’s job?
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And instead, we have the mess that came to a head with Wednesday’s terribly deflating media conference, with the outgoing White looking as defeated as the completely spent Seibold.
Bennett always maintained that the toughest part of actually coaching the Broncos was never about the football – but dealing with the daily pressure that came with being the face of the club.
It is not only the biggest sporting brand in Queensland but arguably the country.
But Bennett could do it on his ear, not only handling the media but also sponsors and fans, while often covering the tracks of players who may have stepped out of line.
If something happened in Brisbane, he was always the first to know – and he could cover it up before anyone usually found out.
Not everyone always agreed with the way he went about things but in hindsight, it sure saved the club a lot of embarrassment and pain.
But as sad as it is to see what has happened to Seibold’s career in such a short space of time, hindsight will also tell you he was doomed from the start because he didn’t have the experience or the structures in place – nor, it has become apparent, the nerve – to handle the heat when the overbearing pressure to succeed was not met.
And those who employed him need to be accountable because they totally underestimated the challenge.
So should Seibold be the only scapegoat to come out of this? Absolutely not.
While White, whose visibility had become akin to the Loch Ness monster’s in the past six months, is departing this year, that leaves the futures of Morris and director Darren Lockyer also under the microscope. And throw retention/recruitment boss Peter Nolan into that same mix.
Surely none of them can play any part in the appointment of the next Broncos coach, which must then create further questions about their ability to perform their existing roles going forward.
It was excruciating watching Wednesday’s media conference from Seibold’s perspective – but it was equally alarming from White’s.
While he conceded the past 12 weeks had been “brutal”, he still found a way for the club to excuse itself out of the mess.
“When we went into lockdown we were on top of the competition,” White said.
“Nearly all the judges had us finishing at least in the top six in the competition … but three months in the history of a club that has been around for over 30 years is a very short period of time.”
What White doesn’t seem to get, or want to accept, is that this trouble started well before the COVID lockdown.
To a similar period leading up to when he sacked an iconic figure in the club’s history via a phone message. At least Seibold received a more dignified exit. He got his own press conference and a chance to share tears with the players.
Bennett didn’t even get a chance to clean out his desk because Seibold arrived the very next day. But you could pinpoint the start of the club’s demise back to that very moment.
Because, as history has now shown us, none of them were ready, nor capable, to step up and fill the void.
BIG PAPA CHASE A BOLT OUT OF THE GREEN
There is no greater advertisement for the reward for hard work in rugby league than the incredible transformation of Josh Papalii. Not just in body, but this fighting spirit that just seems to lift everyone around him at the Canberra Raiders.
When Josh Hodgson was ruled out for the season, most thought the Raiders’ season was as good as over. But they continue to prove themselves to be contenders, and the likes of Papalii and Jack Wighton are leading the way.
Three years ago, Papalii had almost won a life membership in the Raiders’ fat club, and it was driving Ricky Stuart mad. When Big Papa returned from the 2017 World Cup, his weight had ballooned to almost 130kg while playing for Samoa, and his future at the club was at the crossroads.
But last weekend the now 110kg wrecking machine produced one of the greatest cover tackles seen from a front-rower when he chased down Gold Coast halfback Jamal Fogarty and stopped him with an ankle tap. It was one of the great moments of this season and highlighted the astonishing turnaround from the now 28-year-old.
Papalii is now negotiating a four-year contract extension that will go a long way towards making him a Raider for life. It’s been a wonderful journey for a man who first shot to prominence when he got under Paul Gallen’s skin all those years ago.
The then Cronulla hard man accused Papalii of a “dog shot” after the youngster was sent out to rattle Gallen’s cage. But a year later Papalii was playing alongside Gallen for Australia at the 2013 World Cup as the youngest forward in the squad alongside Boyd Cordner.
He is now one of the game’s best forwards, with a giant motor to match his hulking frame.
Originally published as Broncos’ demise can be traced back to rejection of Wayne Bennett’s succession plan