NRL: Anthony Seibold speaks after Wayne Bennett’s attack

Anthony Seibold has addressed the fierce backlash hitting the Broncos after Wayne Bennett dropped truth bombs about his former club.

Wayne Bennett continues to haunt the Broncos two years after leaving the club.

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has spoken publicly after Wayne Bennett slammed the Broncos and clipped his successor for making excuses about the club’s roster.

Bennett parted ways with the Broncos after the 2018 season, a year before his contract was due to expire, and was offended by suggestions the team’s plight is because of the mess he left behind.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Brisbane is second-bottom on the ladder and has lost five straight games since the season restarted, leading chairman Karl Morris to suggest the NRL powerhouse knew it was going to take time to rebuild its roster.

Bennett lashed out in response, saying Seibold has 12 players with Origin or Test experience at his disposal and there’s no way he would have taken the job at Red Hill if he didn’t believe he had the talent to win a premiership.

Speaking at a press conference today, Seibold — fighting for his job despite only being in the second year of a five-year contract — said he’ll know if the time’s right to jump rather than be pushed.

“If at some stage the Broncos don’t think I’m the right person for the job, then that’s their decision,” he said.

“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.”

Morris said “we always thought it was going to take two years for (Seibold) to sort out the issues he was inheriting” in terms of the roster, which is loaded with young talent but thin on experience.

But Seibold denied ever telling the chairman he needed time to rebuild the playing list.

“Not at all,” Seibold 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.”

RELATED: Phil Gould explains real reason Broncos sacked Bennett

Anthony Seibold is under the pump.

The Broncos have copped plenty of criticism for their awful 2020 as they sink to the lowest ebb in their 33-year history, but Seibold maintains the confidence within the Broncos’ dressing room hasn’t wavered.

“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,” Seibold said.

“One of the biggest things I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks during some trying times 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.”

The Broncos face the struggling Warriors this week, who lost 50-6 to Melbourne last Friday in their first game without sacked coach Stephen Kearney at the helm.

There’s been talk the Broncos might look to bring in Kearney or Brisbane legend Kevin Walters as assistants to help Seibold out during this troubling time. The mention of Walters’ name has dumbfounded the rugby league world, given the Broncos snubbed the Queensland Origin mentor for the head coaching role in favour of Seibold two years ago.

Seibold says he’s reached out to Walters, who has expressed a willingness to pitch in, but hasn’t come to any arrangement regarding a job on his staff.

“I spoke to Kevvy yesterday, not about a job but I reached out and had a chat to Kev,” Seibold said.

“We have always had a really strong relationship so it was great to have a chat to him.”