Broncos boss backs Seibold but will be reviewed at season end
Brisbane chair Karl Morris has backed the coach but says the club will review the performance of Anthony Seibold at the end of the season.
Brisbane chair Karl Morris has backed Anthony Seibold but warned the embattled coach that his performance along with that of everyone else in the organisation will be reviewed at the end of the season.
Morris, having fronted the club’s annual general meeting on Tuesday with chief executive Paul White, released a statement immediately afterwards in which he attempted to clarify the club’s position on their coach
“The board would like to be clear in respect of ongoing speculation on Anthony’s tenure at the Broncos,” Morris said.
“He is, and he will remain, our coach. The (chief executive) made it clear that every employee at the Broncos has their performance reviewed at the end of each season, in line with stringent performance management.
“In terms of recent disappointing team performance, there are a large number of players returning from injury in the coming weeks, and the board is looking forward to improved performances.”
The statement effectively gives Seibold 10 weeks to turn the club around or face the sack. By then, the club is likely to have a new chief executive in place — White will leave at the end of the season.
The incoming chief executive’s first job may be to make a recommendation on the future of Seibold. It shapes as an expensive decision for the Broncos.
Morris ended any doubt over the structure of Seibold’s long-term contract on Tuesday, telling a meeting of the club’s shareholders that there are no clauses related to the team’s performance.
“Like all contracts, his contract is confidential,” Morris said.
“Like all of us, many of us that are employed, we all personal performance conditions within our contract in relation to our performance.
“But there is nothing in relation to for example how the overall team performs within his contract, which is a very normal part of any contract for any employee of any organisation.”
Seibold has been under mounting pressure to retain his position at the helm of the club following a difficult start to the year.
The Broncos have lost seven of their eight games since the resumption of the premiership, their latest defeat to Wests Tigers among their most embarrassing.
In the past 24 hours, former North Queensland coach Paul Green has been among those linked with the Broncos. Green may find himself in a quandary as a result.
There is every chance the Warriors will now approach Green about their job. Green covets the Broncos but they have now indicated they will reserve a decision on Seibold until the end of the year.
As for the Broncos, they are fighting battles on several fronts.
The club is locked in a titanic battle to retain backrower David Fifita, who is off contract at the end of the season and in the sights of the Gold Coast.
The Titans are believed to have weighed in with an offer worth in excess of $1.1m for next season. The Broncos will get nowhere near that, their offer believed to be south of $800,000. Fifita is still weighing up his future and White will not risk the club’s salary cap to engage in a bidding war.
“David came through our elite player development system,” White said.
“He has been in our system since he was 15. There is a lot that has been spoken about what he has been offered to go to other clubs. It is not just the Titans — South Sydney made an approach to him at the back end of last year.
“We believe we are in a position to retain David’s deserves. We are no complacent about that.
“He does have really strong ties to this playing group and I know that will be a major consideration in his decision-making process.
“We also respect the magnitude of what the offer may or may not be. David and his family have the right to fully consider that.
“He is a young man with an extremely bright future and we are doing everything in our power to keep him here at the Broncos.
“David is aware we won’t compete financially to match offers and there is a reason for that – if you make decisions without balancing the present with the long-term, you can quickly find yourself and your salary cap in bother.
“We have always been considered in the offers we have been able to make and the balancing of those decisions. We do hold high hopes that we will keep David at this club.”
The Broncos confirmed their financials for last year, revealing the club had increased their revenue to nearly $52 million. They also grew sponsorship and profit, although there was an acknowledgment that the 2020 season would be more trying given the impact of COVID-19.
Morris confirmed the club had begun the process of finding a chief executive to replace the departing White and indicated the Broncos would be in position to unveil his replacement within two months.
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