Rival coaches contact Tevita Pangai as Anthony Seibold nears end

Rival coaches are believed to have contacted Tevita Pangai Junior as they eye off the top job at the Brisbane Broncos.

It appears to be a matter of when not if Anthony Seibold parts company with Brisbane Broncos. Picture: Annette Dew

At least two coaches are believed to have privately offered support for Tevita Pangai Junior as he fights to save his future in Brisbane and they size up the Broncos job in anticipation of Anthony Seibold’s departure.

Senior Broncos officials on Sunday night denied Seibold had been offered a payout to leave immediately, as did sources close to the under-siege coach. Regardless, it has become a matter of when not if Seibold leaves following a season of bitter disappointment.

Pangai, handed an indefinite suspension by the NRL following a series of COVID-19 breaches, is fast becoming the symbol of the race to take over from Seibold.

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The Tongan international is expected to fight for his future at the club when he fronts the Broncos board later this week. He will do so apparently with the support of Broncos’ coaching aspirants, who want him to be part of the future if they take over from Seibold.

Pangai Jr has already received a breach notice from the NRL outlining his failures and deeming that he cannot apply to return to the Broncos’ bubble until September 8 at the earliest. By then, his future at the Broncos will likely have been determined as the club prepares to hold a board meeting where he will be given the opportunity to plead for his future.

Pangai Jr has hired lawyer Simon Tolhurst to handle his case and a public relations company to help improve his public image following the criticism that he attracted for breaching the game’s biosecurity guidelines.

He did a series of interviews late last week on the advice of his camp but the sense is that, if anything, that harmed his chances of keeping his lucrative contract with the Broncos.

He will know soon enough. Under the terms of his contract, Pangai Jr is entitled to five business days notice unless the board decides at its discretion that a lesser period should apply.

The club has five options at the end of that hearing, ranging from taking no further action to terminating his contract with immediate effect. If the Broncos board decides to tear up his contract, Pangai Jr’s only recourse is to take the club to arbitration, where the result will be final and binding.

There has been little interest from elsewhere for Pangai Jr, although the Warriors are watching closely and will attempt to lure him across the Tasman should the Broncos terminate his contract.

The Warriors had hoped to take Pangai Jr on loan for the remainder of the year while the Broncos sorted out their stance, but that was scuppered when the NRL sidelined him.

The Warriors remain interested in signing him on a permanent deal pending the outcome of his stoush with the Broncos.

Brisbane have plenty on their plate as they also deal with the return of Seibold from quarantine, which will be confirmed once he has received the results of a COVID-19 test that he is expected to take on Monday morning.

The Broncos coach left the biosecurity bubble after attending to a family matter but the club is expected to hold talks with him in coming days and weeks over his future.

As well as dealing with a family matter, Seibold has spent his time in COVID hold liasing with his lawyers and European cybercrime experts over a social media campaign designed to destabilise his position at the Broncos.

The cybercrime report is now in the hands of Seibold’s lawyers and he will ultimately decide whether he wants to take the matter further, either through criminal or civil action. Coincidentally, the flashpoint in his time at the Broncos comes as he prepares to face the Sydney Roosters. His time at the club began to unravel when the Broncos faced the Roosters earlier this season.

Having won their opening two games, they returned from the COVID shutdown with a loss to Parramatta. But it was the following week against the Roosters when things truly fell apart as they were beaten 59-0 at Suncorp Stadium. They never really recovered.

Since then, it has been loss after debilitating loss. At times, it has been downright embarrassing. Seibold has been in the firing line amid talk that the dressing room has been divided over the coach. At the same time, he has been a constant target for the club’s former players.

The Broncos have racked up 12 losses in their past 13 games.

For a time on Sunday, the Broncos were staring down the barrel of finishing the weekend at the bottom of the ladder. Fortunately for them, they escaped another disaster when Canterbury capitulated against the Warriors.

However, there appears little chance that Seibold will remain in charge as Kevin Walters and Paul Green head the list of contenders to take over as Broncos bosses. Walters will be armed with the support of the Broncos’ old guard. Green is armed with a premiership and a desperate desire to coach the Broncos.

Before either can take charge, the club will need to find a way to convince Seibold to take a payout.

Seibold still has four years remaining on his contract and if he digs in his heels it could end up being a multimillion-dollar payout for the club to part ways.