Crash Craddock: Huge week for Broncos as coach Anthony Seibold mulls over the biggest call of all

Leave now or hold on? Broncos fans are likely to know by the end of the week whether Anthony Seibold will continue to be their coach.

Anthony Seibold at RedHill.Pic Annette Dew

Anthony Seibold faces the most gut-wrenching decision of his career this week as he decides whether to quit as Broncos coach.

There was heavy speculation last week Seibold was considering ending his turbulent stay at the club, and while it would break his heart to do, so there is a compelling case to walk away now.

To stay would mean chugging through until the end of this heartbreaking season only, in all probability, to reach the same exit door.

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Anthony Seibold’s future could be sorted one way or the other this week.

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The difference is if he goes now, it’s his call. If he stays the matter gets taken out of his hands.

Seibold is in isolation for another week after having to leave the Broncos bubble to attend a serious family matter and will make a call this week.

It’s been a disastrous season for the Broncos but coaches don’t have to be stigmatised by the occasional failure – ask Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler.

Seibold has the smarts and desire to rise again and might well become a better coach for the humbling disappointment of Brisbane.

We could go on about poor recruitment and overburdening a young team with complex instructions, but the COVID era was not his type of environment.

With a laser-like focus on structure and planning, his detailed style was totally disrupted by the COVID chaos where no two weeks were the same and traditional structures often just flew out the window.

TOUGH GIG

Seibold’s fate shows how coaching the Broncos is one of the most demanding gigs in Australian sport.

In 33 years only four men have held the job and only one of those – Wayne Bennett – truly handled the pressure.

But for the majority of Bennett’s career the scrutiny was nowhere near as great as it is today with the gutter forces of social media clouding minds and shattering self-esteem of players and officials.

The Broncos coaching gig is one of the most demanding in the country.

POOR FORM

The NRL loves its social media activity yet when things turn sour they run and hide.

Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey told a New York Times podcast last week he was looking into ways to counter vile abuse through Twitter but his stance was too late to save Seibold from some of the cruellest and most fanciful abuse imaginable on social media last week.

Seibold has had to hire lawyers and social media security experts to get to the heart of the matter with not a jot of assistance from NRL headquarters.

This could become a watershed case with a strong chance the villains who penned the abuse will be brought to justice.

WHERE’S THE CAKE?

Celebrating milestones is part of building culture which is why the Broncos let down Darius Boyd last week.

Boyd played his 200th match for the club when he lined up against Canberra. It reinforces his reputation as one of the club’s greats yet it had virtually no fanfare throughout the week.

A big suspension would put Kevin proctor’s Gold Coast tenure in severe threat.

ALL AT STAKE

Kevin Proctor has his playing future on the line over his biting charge this week.

Proctor is off contract with the Titans next season but senses the club is heading in the right direction and, with David Fifita coming next year, would love to stay.

But a major suspension after he allegedly bit the forearm of Shark Shaun Johnson on Saturday would be a torpedo midships to his future with the club.

Heartening news for him is that of the nine biting charges brought to the NRL judiciary, four have been acquitted, meaning they often look worse initially than what they are and the bark is often worse than the bite.

Originally published as Crash Craddock: Huge week for Broncos as coach Anthony Seibold mulls over the biggest call of all