Another twist of the knife from Dean Ritchie in today's "Telegraph", continuing the trend of passive-aggressive character assassination whenever Seibold's name comes up. Knowledgeable, articulate, well-educated and presents very well? That's suspicious as all hell and goes against everything rugby league stands for! The guy must be a f#@kwit…
Rabbitohs claim Anthony Seibold wasn’t transparent and ‘left a taste’ at the club
As Anthony Seibold prepares for a new start, former club the Rabbitohs have finally spoken of the hidden drama behind his decision to quit for a Brisbane mega deal.
By Dean Ritchie
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly has finally spoken of the hidden drama behind Anthony Seibold’s decision to unexpectedly quit Redfern for a mega-deal at Brisbane, claiming a lack of “transparency” left his club with a “taste in our mouth.”
“Forgiven but not forgotten,” said Solly.
Seibold’s shock choice to leave Souths after the 2018 season – with a year remaining on his contract – is just one chapter in an epic story of an inventive coach who has travelled around the world for his craft and is described by players and officials as everything from “intelligent and articulate” to “over-complicated and rigid.”
Manly, welcome to life under Seibs.
News Corp spoke to multiple players, officials and stakeholders in the game to gauge opinions on Seibold, Manly’s coach-in-waiting.
Most agreed Seibold has a remarkable football knowledge coupled with a “confusing” personality some players find difficult to understand.
BYE BYE BUNNIES
Seibold walked out on Souths for a five-year contract at Brisbane, starting in 2019. He was desperate to join the Broncos and agitated aggressively to leave.
It was an unmitigated disaster at Red Hill, with Seibold sacked less than two years into his tenure.
“Anthony won the Dally M coach of the year when he was with us so clearly he is a talented coach who can get a team to achieve. He is a very good coach,” Solly said.
“The other side of that for us was that we were very disappointed with the way in which his move to Brisbane went down. It left a taste in our mouth. His pursuit of the Broncos job was probably less than transparent.
“Our disappointment was, in giving Anthony his opportunity to be a head coach, and the success he had in the 2018 season, we would have loved at the time for him to stay long-term. As it was, Anthony made a decision that he wanted to move to Brisbane and we were disappointed he did that.”
Asked whether Souths had forgiven Seibold for his messy exit out of Redfern, Solly said: “Forgiven but not forgotten. That might be an accurate description.
“I have seen comments from Anthony saying that he wished he never left Souths and that he learnt a lot from that experience. And, if he has, I’m sure he will have some success at Manly. I think we have all recognised that and, to Anthony’s credit, he realises he has made a mistake.
“In the end, we all move forward. Wayne (Bennett) was a wonderful coach here for three years and Jason (Demetriou) has shown what he is capable of this season. We haven’t really looked back but, at the same time, it was a difficult period for the club.”
THE RIGHT MAN
Seibold will need to immediately repair a Manly playing group badly disrupted by the pride jersey fiasco.
His well-known stringent methods, according to some, may need to be pulled back to win over a cautious Sea Eagles roster.
“He was very knowledgeable, articulate, well-educated and presents very well,” said John Cartwright, who worked alongside Seibold on Manly’s coaching staff in 2016.
“His presentation to the group back then, and imparting that knowledge, was very good.
“His job at Manly back then was defensive coach and he was very professional and worked very hard.”
Cartwright, now an assistant at Brisbane, didn’t hear any negative comments about Seibold from players or officials when he arrived at the Broncos two years ago.
“I think he (implemented) a lot of different ideas and training methods when he coached at Brisbane to what the players were previously used to,” Cartwright said.
Seibold is also one of Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy’s proteges.
“Anthony spent three years down here,” Storm general manager of football Frank Ponissi said.
“One year as our under 20s coach and then two years as our development, transitional coach. He impressed everyone in those three years, the way he fitted in and connected with the players.”
TOUGH TO HANDLE
Seibold told Broncos players he was always available for a talk.
The problem was, few felt comfortable enough to engage with their coach.
One player described his coaching style as “confusing and unyielding”.
“The Broncos players generally felt him to be very rigid and set in his ways. He had meetings organised all the time. I think the playmakers felt confused over his systems,” said a well-placed source close to the Broncos.
“One player told me directly that ‘Seibs’ said his door was always open but it didn’t feel open. They struggled to connect with him as a bloke. It was information overload for some players.
“But conversely, he was very organised and tactically, he was very smart. He has a very good football brain. ‘Seibs’ certainly knows the game and understands it.”
One player agent said: “Seibs is very switched on – he’s intelligent – but he can over complicate things and make it hard on players. A lot of players these days don’t need to be overeducated on footy.”
EVERYWHERE MAN
Seibold is rugby league’s true global warrior.
Born in Rockhampton, Seibold has played and coached in a remarkable number of cities, towns and countries around the world.
There’s been Brisbane, Perpignan, Canberra, London, Ipswich, Hull, Toowoomba, Wales, Mackay, Melbourne, Manly, Souths and Newcastle. He even played a game in Estonia. By the time his daughter Isabella was 10, she had lived in four countries.
“You can have great life experiences in rugby league so when people say rugby league is just a local game, it really ****s me,” Seibold once said. “I hate it when people say rugby league is just two states and the north of England.”
THE BROOKVALE CHALLENGE
Can Seibold rebuild Manly under immense and ease the anxiety of the club’s two precious jewels – Tom and Jake Trbojevic?
Once thing is clear – he won’t have to do it alone, with a dream team of assistant coaches featuring Shane Flanagan, Jim Dymock and possibly Laurie Daley taking shape.
Former Broncos and Test player Corey Parker worked alongside Seibold at Brisbane and is backing success at Manly.
“Make no mistake, Anthony Seibold is one of the smartest minds I have come across in rugby league, so it is just how that message gets delivered and how it is picked up from the playing group,” Parker told Fox Sports.
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