Broncos sack Bennett

WAYNE Bennett’s 25-season reign with Brisbane is over, with the NRL club sacking the seven-time premiership coach and announcing Anthony Seibold is taking over immediately.

“The Brisbane Broncos board has terminated coach Wayne Bennett’s contract with immediate effect,” the club said in a brief statement yesterday, adding the terms were confidential. “The Broncos thank him for his contribution to the club and wish him all the best in the future.”

In another statement they said: “Anthony Seibold will join the Brisbane Broncos as coach, effective immediately.”

The move ends a month- long stand-off, with Bennett now set to head to South Sydney to replace Seibold.

The coach swap comes a year earlier than the pair were initially contracted for. It follows 68-year-old Bennett’s bitter falling out with Brisbane when he could not secure a further term with the Broncos beyond his contract, which had been due to expire after 2019.

With both men signed to swap clubs from 2020, their positions appeared untenable for 2019, but Bennett stubbornly clung on, insisting he was going nowhere. Only on Friday, he stunned the rugby league world by promising to dig his heels in and stick out the final year of his contract.

The Broncos finally opted to sack the competition’s most experienced mentor following a spectacular weekend outburst from Seibold. The Broncos coach-in-waiting launched a stinging attack on Bennett on Saturday and revealed the emotional toll the saga had taken on his young family.

“I have had a gutful,” Seibold said. “I’ve been sitting here for four weeks and feeling like a punching bag. It’s not fair.”

The reigning NRL coach of the year said he had twice been told by the Rabbitohs that he would be coaching the Broncos in 2019.

He said that he had packed up and cleaned out his office at the Rabbitohs on Thursday afternoon.

Seibold pointed the finger firmly at Bennett for “playing games”.