Anthony Seibold time as the coach of the Brisbane Broncos is officially over, with a press conference set for Wednesday morning to confirm the news.
Seibold has not been with the club for the last two weeks having chosen to break the NRL “COVID bubble” to attend to a family matter.
Seibold joined the Broncos with much fanfare after manoeuvring his way out of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. There were high hopes he would be the Broncos long term replacement for Wayne Bennett and the club committed to a long term deal to give Seibold all the time he would need to make the dream happen.
It was fairly clear from the beginning however that Seibold’s coaching wasn’t all that good. The Broncos began a steady decline as soon as he joined the club despite having some of the best youngsters in the game at his disposal. Chopping and changing his lineup didn’t help, and his inability to drop high profile, older players hurt the clubs on field performance.
This all culminated in a 2020 season that has been nothing short of a disaster. The Brisbane Broncos are currently on track to have an historically bad defensive record, not to mention the scene of players crying after games, players being moved on that the club could have used, poor signings, off field issues, an losing David Fifita to the Gold Coast Titans.
The Broncos are just one step away from picking up the clubs first wooden spoon as they sit in 15th place on the NRL ladder.
News Limited, the major shareholder in the Brisbane Broncos, have been agitating hard for Seibold to take up a payout to leave the club immediately, and it seems Seibold has taken up that offer.
It is hard to see him picking up a head coaching job in the NRL any time soon. On top of that, with the constant acrimony surrounding his time as an assistant at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, it will be very difficult for any club to bring him on as an assistant coach either.
Its a bit of a sad end for a coaching career that seemingly showed do much promise. Seibold walked into the best job in the game, anointed as the next great super coach, and within two years it is already all over.
Hopefully Seibold is in a good place. His payout will help with that no doubt. Hopefully this all gives him time to take care of his family issues, and he can one day assess where things all went on and maybe, just maybe give Rugby League coaching another try some time down the track.
