Anthony Seibold is set to be appointed as the new coach of the Manly Sea Eagles any day now following the sacking of Des Hasler, however, former Broncos legend Steve Renouf has handed the Northern Beaches-based club a big warning.
Seibold made his first grade coaching debut with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2018, but spent just a single season in charge at Redfern before switching places with Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos in 2019.
While Seibold had a phenomenal first season in charge, guiding the Rabbitohs to the preliminary finals, things quickly turned sour at Red Hill.
He would ultimately be sacked by the Broncos just halfway through his second season, coaching 40 games and winning just 14 during his time there.
He has since reverted to rugby union, where he works under Eddie Jones in the England set up, with the long-term union coach also linked with a move to the Sea Eagles.
Renouf, speaking to The Daily Mail, suggested Seibold had sucked Manly officials in with his ability to explain the game.
“He's sucked them (Manly) in with all his psychobabble,” Renouf said.
“He did it to us (the Broncos) and now he's done it to them.
“I spoke to multiple players (at the Broncos) and they told me they didn't know what was going on,” Renouf said.
“You could see it on the field. They'd be standing behind the line after they'd had a try scored against them and no-one was talking.
“They weren't even looking at each other. No-one was taking charge and saying, ‘come on, we've got to do this' because they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing.
“Anthony had his ideas of how things should be done, and that was it. Trouble was, the players couldn't understand what he was talking about.”
Renouf said he wouldn't see success at Manly unless he could change.
“We footballers are simple people playing a simple game,” Renouf said.
“Wayne (Bennett) always used to say to me, ‘you're thinking too much. Don't think, just play.'
“That was the problem with Seibold. He had the players thinking too much. It stressed them out. They didn't want to try anything in case it went badly.
“Good luck to Manly, but I just can't see how it can work. They'll know in six months.”
“Good luck to Manly, but I just can’t see how it can work. They’ll know in six months.”
I think that is the only sensible thing that Steve Renouf said, in this article.
Crucially, he doesn’t concede that Anthony Seibold may have looked back on what went wrong, and drawn some conclusions about what he needs to do better when talking to his next squad of players.