Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has given Jason Demetriou a mighty serve for questioning his NRL finals record, suggesting the South Sydney assistant may be “dirty” after missing out on the Broncos’ head coach gig.
The stage appeared set for Seibold and Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett to trade barbs ahead of Friday night’s NRL grudge match after their messy job swap last year.
But it was Demetriou who lobbed the grenades for Souths, taking aim at the Rabbitohs’ failed finals campaign under Seibold last year.
Demetriou said rival teams had worked Seibold’s style out in his rookie year as an NRL coach in 2018, resulting in South Sydney crashing out in last year’s preliminary final and scoring just one try in their last two finals appearances.
Seibold wasn’t impressed when that was raised on Thursday, hinting Demetriou was jealous that he hadn’t been promoted to the Broncos’ head coaching job when Bennett left for South Sydney.
Demetriou was believed to be in the Broncos head coach mix after serving as deputy to Bennett at Red Hill but Brisbane instead opted for Seibold.
Demetriou eventually followed Bennett to the Rabbitohs.
“One thing I learned a long time ago is as an assistant coach you put your head down, bum up and work hard. You don’t need to promote yourself,” Seibold said.
“I am not sure whether he is dirty that his name hasn’t come up for a couple of head coaching roles recently.
“I think he has bigger problems than having a look at my finals record.”
Asked if he had a history with Demetriou, Seibold said: “I don’t know him from a bar of soap.
“(But) I don’t think Jason Demetriou throwing some stats out is mind games.
“He has obviously forgotten a few things and that is probably why he is not a head coach at the moment – his attention to detail is obviously a little bit off.
“I can’t believe we are standing here talking about Jason Demetriou leading up to a Broncos v South Sydney game.”
Seibold was happier speaking about Brisbane who sit seventh after suffering just one loss in their last seven games.
They take on a South Sydney outfit that has fallen out of the top four for the first time after suffering three straight losses.
Seibold still couldn’t help have another chip at Demetriou when asked if Brisbane were after payback following their round eight 38-6 hammering from South Sydney this year.
“They outplayed us. They were far too good for us, you can’t hide behind that fact – maybe Jason was coaching that week I am not sure,” he said.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence is a guy who's team is falling apart in the second half of this year, getting suckered in by the media to react to a pretty benign comment as an assistant coach. I find it hard to believe there's anything more substantial then mind games here, I mean why on earth would anyone involved in the Broncos coaching staff last year seriously be bringing up finals results in a slanging match (stat fight?)??
Larry1950
Guest
Nothing new here, Wayne loads the gun & hands it to someone else to fire, then denies any knowledge of it. Can't we all remember the savage quotes from guys like Dowling, Pearl etc designed to fire up Wayne's bronco or Qld teams when they were struggling. Next thing, we'll see a leaked "game plan" from the Broncos identifying supposed weaknesses in individual Rabbitohs. Wayne's used all the tricks in this thirty plus years coaching so spare us the "don't ask me" protests.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
All true. Regardless you look at that and wonder why a power club would dump a legend of the game and sign this guy for 5 years. I know finishing position isn't the only thing. I just look at those records, the way his team fell apart in the second half of last year, the stories about his frosty relationships with other head coaches he worked with (which are just rumours), and now we see the way he just gets suckered in by the media, time and time again and I just don't see whatever Broncos Mgmt saw that said - we got have this guy and we have to have him now and for the next 5 years.. Maybe he will prove people like me wrong..
Nat
Roar Guru
He's manipulated that data. It's a little convenient he's left 2018 off the Seibold side but included the Demi finals start. Plus a little full of himself to think Seibold takes any notice of his little twitter page and it's 900 followers.
steveng
Roar Rookie
HaHaaa :happy: :happy: :happy: Seibold wait until Friday, we might be down for the 8 but not for the 10 or thrown the towel in! The Bunnies spirit will come through and that will be all it takes to smash the Broncs! Go You Bunnies!
BA Sports
Roar Guru
I don't mind a couple of coaches having a crack at each other. If I was going to take a side, this link would be rather persuasive... https://twitter.com/league_analyst/status/1164340609986912256
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Broncos will come out on top when Segeyaro gets his full 40 mins.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
:laughing: :laughing:
Brian_K
Roar Rookie
Loved it especially the "maybe Jason was coaching that week" line.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Can you blame them? If they can't find a way to create drama, they might have to resort to reporting on actual events or something equally horrifying... I would have been more surprised if they didn't try and make a story out of it though. Just look at what they pulled with Seibold's supposed 'criticism' of Keary.
Emcie
Roar Guru
I'm not sure bringing up last year's finals was the smartest move from Demetriou... But in all honesty does anyone really care? The media's sure trying their guts out to make South's Broncos a grudge match.
Rob
Guest
Seibold and Demetriou are ripping right in. Love to see it!
Medic
Roar Rookie
Love it!