NRL: Broncos boss Paul White stands by besieged coach Anthony Seibold

Brisbane CEO Paul White insists the club will continue to support coach Anthony Seibold despite a sixth consecutive defeat

Broncos skipper Alex Glenn is consoled by Warriors veteran Adam Blair

Brisbane chief executive Paul White insists the club will continue to support coach Anthony Seibold despite a sixth consecutive defeat igniting more calls for his sacking.

Seibold was at a loss to explain his side’s capitulation against the Warriors at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday night, a defeat that reduced some of their players to tears.

The coach, in the second year of a five-year deal, has been in the crosshairs for weeks yet the club says it will stand by him.

“To say we are gutted by where we sit after six straight losses would be an understatement,” White said. “I want to make it clear … that everyone at this club is hurting at the moment. The reaction you saw from our players last night shows how much they are hurting.

“I do want to reassure everyone who supports our club that we are right behind our players and our coach and our coaching staff, because I think right at this period in time they need a lot of support.

“If we are going to get ourselves out of this place we are in right at the moment, we are going to have to continue to support that group of players and get behind them.

“The club has been through tough times in the past, the club has been through losing streaks in the past. The club has a history of staying the course and that is what we are going to do.

“We will stay the course, we will keep providing the necessary support as we can. But we are acutely aware of the position we are in, we are not happy to be there and we know we are up against it.”

Pressed on whether Seibold was safe, White said: “We came out on the record last week, both myself and the chairman Karl Morris — that has been categorically clear.

“We made a long-term commitment to Anthony. To segment our year, we started the year with two straight wins, we had a great pre-season.

“Some teams have shot out the other side of the restarted season and they have taken their game to a new level. We haven’t.

“We haven’t handled that period well. We are facing a critical juncture in our season and now is not the time to be making decisions around our coach. I won’t be doing that.”

The Broncos are two points off the bottom and could go last if they lost to Canterbury next weekend. Regardless, they are facing one of the bleakest periods in their proud history. No-one doubts the talent at the club, but at times they are playing like strangers.

“Our roster is a good roster,” White said. “We have nine players out either through injury or one suspended. I am happy with our roster. We have a talented roster.

“We should be doing better than we are doing. There are no excuses being made today. We’re eight games into a 20-round season.

“The results are poor. We’re trying to keep our young players and entire roster supported and upright. We’re going through a process.

“We’re always reviewing our actions, our roster, what we can do better, the resources. We’re not a club that sits still on that.

“We know there is a lot of work to do. We have to stay the course with them. They’re hurting and when players do hurt, there is a lot to work with there.”

If Seibold is to remain at the helm, he has some big decisions to make. He has remained loyal to the likes of Brodie Croft, Anthony Milford and Darius Boyd throughout the club’s recent struggles, but his loyalty has not been repaid and the time may have come to wield the axe.

They have now lost in successive weeks to the Gold Coast Titans and the Warriors — two sides who have hardly set the world on fire this year.

The Warriors lost playmaker Kodi Nikorima in the opening minutes but they were too good when the whips were cracking.

The Broncos board have been unequivocal in their support for Seibold in recent weeks, but something has to give as the game’s most powerful club endures one of the most tumultuous and barren times in their history,

Former players have been scathing in their criticism of the club and the Broncos are facing another week of withering analysis after a chaotic performance against the Warriors.

It may be that some senior players become casualties of the Broncos’ woeful form. Seibold admitted he was searching for answers to the club’s woes — they have not won since the NRL returned from the break brought on by COVID-19.

“I’m not sure why we are fading out of games, but we are,” Seibold lamented. “We are learning some tough lessons at the moment. I’m really disappointed. I’m sad for the group and disappointed, it’s a real tough time for us at the moment.

“I would love to find out (some answers). I thought we did a really good job in the first half, but in the second half we just couldn’t get the job done.”

Asked about Alex Glenn and Croft breaking down in tears at full-time — the former had to be consoled by Warriors veteran Adam Blair — Seibold said: “It makes me sad. How Alex and Brodie are is how we are all feeling, including myself. It’s disappointing to see the results when I know what we have in the change rooms.

“I’m quite emotive. I’m really upset and disappointed, we fly back to Queensland and the only thing we can do is review the game and try and get better.”

Glenn fronted the media after the game.

“It hurts,” he said. “I got overwhelmed out there, sometimes we cry and get upset. I know the effort we put into training every week. We are lacking discipline, I just care for this club and the team so much and the emotions came out.

“I won’t shy away from it. Sometimes you shed tears. Being here for 12 years, this is one of the toughest periods I’ve been through.

“I’d rather be the captain now testing myself because once we turn this around, it will be a hell of a story.”

The Broncos have been beset by rumours, be it about Seibold’s relationship with the players, or the players relationships with each other.

Only hours before their latest defeat, the club’s inaugural captain Wally Lewis suggested on Nine radio that the playing group was split over the size of some of their teammates’ pay packets.

The likes of Milford and Jack Bird are on up to $1 million apiece, yet the former has struggled and the latter has barely played after suffering successive knee reconstructions.

The club is also struggling to tie down boom backrower David Fifita, who is off contract at the end of the season and in the sights of rival clubs.