Brisbane chief executive Paul White has called an NRL press conference for Sunday morning and is expected to confirm the club will stand by Anthony Seibold.
Calls for the termination of Seibold’s contract just 18 months into a five-year deal have continued after the team slumped to their sixth-straight loss on Saturday night.
The pressure of the past six weeks has taken an emotional toll on the playing group, with skipper Alex Glenn and halfback Brodie Croft both visibly upset at fulltime in Gosford.
It was another match in which the Broncos lead at halftime, but fell apart in the final 20 minutes as the Warriors stormed home to win 26-16.
“It is really disappointing. We are learning some really tough lessons at the moment, so it is a really tough one,” Seibold said after the game.
“I’m not sure why we are fading out of games at the moment, but we are and that is the reality of it.”
It will compound external pressure to make changes after club legends Wally Lewis and Kevin Walters both raised serious concerns about the culture and coaching systems on Saturday.
Queensland legend and rugby league Immortal Lewis made sensational claims the playing group is fractured over jealousy and nastiness towards the team’s highest-paid players.
Walters told Fox Sports he believes the coaching staff is confusing messages to players, who are playing as though they have no connection.
“I’d like to see a connection among the playing group,” Walters said.
“It seems to me they all feel that they know what they have to do, but they don’t actually go and do it for whatever reason.
“They’re a talented group of players. The job of the coach and all the staff there is to unlock the keys to those players and get them moving in the right direction.”
Muzz
Guest
Seibold is far king useless. His troops have checked out and are going through the motions. The clubs board have dropped the ball on this one. Shameful really
kk
Roar Pro
Good points KurtS. How would the Broncos fare without those Key Third Party people? Another problem still exists. David Fifita has promised Payne Haas he will stay. Big Mal has promised him the earth and lifetime security. The Broncos need to keep Fifita. We have seen the tears flow without him. Of course Fifita may not want to play under Seibold. The C19 whirlpool has caused big problems at Red Hill. It may cost $Millions to correct.
Walter Black
Guest
Seibold has been very lucky to have had a relatively kind schedule so far. The Doggies and tigers could be what he needs to try and get a little confidence back but after that they get Melbourne & Cronulla. It would only take one more 59-0 shellacking for the Broncs to be right back where they are right now.
Paul
Roar Guru
Totally agree about going back to basics for the Broncos, Kurt. If they can get their defence right and complete their sets without making errors, they have enough quality in the squad to eke out some wins. They've got the Doggies then the Tigers in the next 2 rounds. They should be aiming to win both games, even if it's ugly wins by a point or two. If they can't show more against these teams, no matter what White and the Board thinks, Seibold surely has to be on very, very thin ice.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
The Broncos can’t release Seibold at this point in time if in fact there is no performance clause in the contract. Doing so would require a purge of the board and other key people at the club because it would be very difficult for the club to accept gifting Seibold a payout. Those key people in Broncos management bring in sponsorship and 3rd party dollars through years of networking with the community. That is not something that can be replaced easily. I expect that what will happen is that someone at the club or close to the club will be brought in as Seilbold’s overseer. This overseer will demand that Seibold drop all these convoluted and extensive game plans and get the team playing a basic game of 3 tackles up the middle followed by throwing the ball to the outside men followed by a kick into the in-goal or thereabouts. Defense will be a simple structure until the confidence returns and the individual players start to trust the guy beside them to be doing the defensive roll. Players will need to get back to playing for each other instead of the “together – alone” playing that we see now. And that will take time. Only after the trust and confidence are back, then will there be discussions about more expansive play. This is mean a loss of face for Seibold but if done correctly, both the Broncos, club, players and coach will be able to move on from this relatively unscathed next year. I really don’t see a way forward other than this.
Walter Black
Guest
We all know what he is going to say, he has no other option.