Seibold not afraid of Broncos review

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold’s only focus is on winning games as the spectre of a review looms over his future.

Tom Dearden, Patrick Carrigan and Jamayne Isaako arrive at Broncos training

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has taken a pragmatic view of the latest speculation surrounding his position at the Broncos, in particular the prospect of a sweeping review at the end of the season.

Reviews happen, Seibold said on Wednesday. Always have, always will. Every club he has coached has conducted a review of their operations in the off-season.

Brisbane, as he sees it, are no different. The Broncos on his watch conducted a thorough review after they were eliminated from the finals in embarrassing fashion last season.

The main subject of that review was a playing group who capitulated as their season came to an inglorious end. The sense is the review at the end of this season, unless Seibold can spark a significant turnaround, will be the coaching set-up.

There appears little doubt that Seibold’s staff will pay the price for another turbulent year. There has been an ongoing push for the coach to surround himself with people like Steve Kearney and Kevin Walters, coaches who have either been under the blowtorch or desperately crave a head coaching job.

The Broncos have won only three games this season. Picture: Annette Dew

Seibold has resisted, although the game’s current biosecurity guidelines have prevented major changes.

“I have good perspective on all this,” Seibold said. “I feel ready to get up and go every single day. The challenge hasn’t changed one bit from 18 months ago — I am staying the course and playing the long game.

“You mention the review — performance reviews happen in clubland at the end of every single season. I have not been at a club where we don’t have a review of not just the staff, but the playing group and the holistic program.

“That is a given. So with regard to the support from Karl and Paul, it is great to hear. Privately they have shared that support with me also.

“We are at the beginning of a very big job. One of the reasons I suppose that we have had some challenges in the event weeks is that we haven’t been good enough defensively.

“That is an area we would like to improve but it is good to have that support from Karl (Morris), our chairman.”

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold. Picture: Annette Dew

Morris released a statement immediately following the club’s annual general meeting on Tuesday where he insisted that Seibold retained the club’s support, but the club would conduct a full review at the end of the year.

There was a concession from Morris that the club expected to see results improve in coming weeks, in particular as some of their injured players returned to the fold.

The incoming chief executive will no doubt have a significant say in Seibold’s future, Morris telling the club’s shareholders that person, whoever they may be, would likely investigate the club’s machinations as part of their settling into the hot-seat.

Seibold can ease some of the pressure by winning football matches, starting with Friday night’s game against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium.

The Storm are short-priced favourites — the Broncos are remarkably $7 outsiders to win the game — but Seibold has tinkered with his backline in an attempt to spark his outfit.

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Anthony Milford’s move to fullback is designed to ignite his running game while halfback Tom Dearden has been given the No 7 jersey and selected to ease some of the organisational pressure on five-eighth Brodie Croft.

“I think takes a bit of that organisation off Crofty and allows Crofty to be freed up a little bit, which I think is important,” Seibold said.
“Tommy did a tremendous job for us last year. I have been asked plenty of questions about whether he was going to play or why he wasn’t playing for a long period of time.

“We wanted to make sure he was physically ready. On the back of a consistent block of training, he deserved an opportunity to wear the number seven and bring some organisation and ability on both sides of the footy.

“I think he has a really smart kicking game. I just think it was time he gets an opportunity. Tom showed last year he could handle it.

“He played when we beat the Roosters in a tough, physical game. He was good up against Cooper (Cronk) on that night. He showed offensive heart and grit.
“That is what we need at the moment.”