Anthony Seibold is mulling over a shock leadership move in his first few weeks on the Northern Beaches, considering a veteran forward to join Daly Cherry-Evans as Manly's captain.
The former Brisbane and South Sydney coach officially started his new role as the Sea Eagles' head coach this week, vowing not to repeat his Red Hill mistakes, and making a few surprising decisions to kickstart his tenure.
Unlike several other coaches, Seibold has never been a massive advocate of the multi-captain structures some clubs run, like the Wests Tigers' five captains in 2022, instead opting for a sole leader in each squad to guide the troops.
Greg Inglis was an easy decision in 2018 in the coach's only season at the helm in Redfern, before his move to Brisbane saw Darius Boyd captain the club in his final season, before Alex Glenn was named the club's new leader in 2020.
However, WWOS is reporting that Seibold is set to go against his own history, and install Jake Trbojevic as co-captain of the Manly Sea Eagles alongside Daly Cherry-Evans in 2023.
'DCE' was first handed the captaincy ahead of the 2017 NRL season following Jamie Lyon's retirement, beating out Trbojevic at the time, who was the 'bolder' for the role despite having played just two full seasons of first-grade.
Now, nearly six years later, the two Kangaroos are set to team up to lead Manly into their next era.
The Sea Eagles' squad is still reportedly divided according to WWOS, a rift between the 'Manly Seven' that sat out the infamous pride jersey match, and the rest of the squad, with the seven apparently gelling a lot more with Jake than they do with Cherry-Evans.
Rumours of a rift between Trbojevic and Cherry-Evans intensified at the back end of the 2022 season following Manly's seven-straight defeats, however the halfback went public after the regular season was over to set the record straight.
"When clubs like us come under scrutiny, I reckon (rumours of player feuds) are sort of a cop-out," he said the Nine Network's Sunday Footy Show in mid-September.
"It's an easy thing to just come at the playing group and pick apart relationships and friendships.
"Myself and Jake are fine. We are fine and I'm happy to go on the record with that and I'm sure Jake would as well.
"As the year finished, do not get me wrong, with seven (losses) in a row, there was definitely frustration and disappointment among the playing group but never to the point where people weren't talking to each other."
Seibold is yet to make a final call on his leadership group, with both World Cup winners not expected back at training until the New Year.
