Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has called on European cybercrime gurus

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has called in European cybercrime gurus to help track down trolls.

Anthony Seibold is determined to track down the trolls responsible for online smears.

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has ramped up his search for the social media trolls responsible for the outrageous assaults on his character by calling in European cybercrime experts to track down the origins of the attacks.

Seibold, who has been orchestrating Broncos training from afar after going into a 14-day Covid hold, has hired David Garratt, from Howden Saggers Lawyers, to pursue criminal and civil charges against those responsible.

Seibold and Garratt have already spokento members of the Queensland Cybercrime unit and it emerged on Thursday that they had begun their own search for the culprits, using ex-army professionals with expertise in the area.

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It is understood Seibold has paid for it out of his own pocket, a sign of how intent he is on bringing those responsible to account.

“The guys are from offshore,” Garratt said. “They are in Europe at the moment working around the clock on it. I spent a bit of time in the army and these guys are ex-army guys who run security companies.

“They are contacts that I have known through my time in the ADF (Australian Defence Force). This is separate to the police.

“This is something for him civilly where he can find out where all these messages have come from. We are extremely close. … to finding out where they came from and who wrote them.
“I was surprised by what they could do to be honest — I really was. I didn’t realise what these guys are capable of. They are extremely competent in what they do.

“They are looking at where they originated from, who wrote them and the different group chats they are in.”

It is understood Seibold is yet to lodge a formal complaint with police, although he will do so once the team of overseas cyber sleuths have identified the origins of the attacks.

“We need to unify where they came from,” Garratt said.
“Once the identity has been made they have grounds to make those officials complaints. He is taking his time, he is quite frustrated and he has instructed me he wants to go down this path with the investigation.

“There are no guarantees we will find who concocted all this crap, but it is an avenue he wants to take.”

While Seibold continues to search for the parties responsible for attacking his reputation, he also has a team to run, albeit from afar. His assistant Peter Gentle has taken over in his absence, although Seibold, who breached biosecurity protocols by staying overnight in Sydney last week, continues to take part in meetings via Zoom.

“We had him propped up on a chair in a meeting this morning on a Zoom call,” Gentle said.
“I am only filling in, it‘s not as if Seibs is gone. There is still good energy from the players. It’s a welcome distraction for (Seibold).

“I talk to him many times a day, the staff get together each afternoon and we catch up on Zoom. He is getting all the training footage so he is able to cut it up and plan the sessions.

“He is coaching from afar, I am there just carrying out his wishes which is what we do anyway. It‘s been pretty seamless at the moment with Seibs working at arm’s length and a few of the older players have stepped up and helped during the week.”

The Broncos are putting the finishing touches to one of the worst seasons in their history and they will head into Saturday’s game at long odds of beating Canberra.

Their cause hasn’t been helped by more injuries, the latest involving winger Xavier Coates, who left training on Thursday with an ankle problem. They also have an ongoing investigation hanging over their head after as many as 10 players attended the Everton Park Hotel on August 1.

Queensland Police have cleared the players involved of any breach of biosecurity measures and they will be allowed to play against the Raiders, although they will be required to undergo COVID-19 tests.

However, the integrity unit continues to investigate the players’ actions, their inquiries slowed because they are yet to obtain CCTV footage from the hotel from the day in question.

Acting NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said the game was working closely with Queensland authorities to determine if NRL rules had been breached.

“We are conducting a detailed investigation to ensure we have all available evidence before determining the need for sanctions,” Abdo said.
“It is important we have all the facts and evidence before making a decision. Right from the start of this pandemic we have made it clear if protocols are breached players and officials will face strong sanctions. Our actions in recent days have confirmed that.”

Gentle added: “The good news is they can play. We are desperate to give the members, fans and our sponsors something to be proud of. It‘s been a long time coming but we are desperate to put in a good performance on Saturday night.”