Family man happy to be closer to home
Incoming mentor not concerned about the shadow of ‘supercoach’
FAMILY is the main motivation for Cairns Brothers junior and current NRL star Nene MacDonald.
MacDonald was at Townsville Sports Reserve yesterday for his first preseason hit-out with his new Cowboys teammates after signing a three-year deal with the club in October.
The former St George Illawarra centre said he was looking forward to some extra support this season.
The reason I (play football) is for my family ... They couldn’t come down much to watch me play (at the Dragons), but I can picture them here at every game now.”
crowned Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is determined to write his own chapter in Brisbane’s history books, as he looks to end the club’s 12-year premiership drought.
The former South Sydney mentor was yesterday officially unveiled as the fourth coach in Brisbane’s proud history, finally bringing an end to the drawn out coaching saga involving him and Wayne Bennett.
The door opened for Seibold to finally take his place at the helm of the club after the Broncos sacked Bennett for alleged contract breaches on Sunday. And the 44-year-old arrived at the Red Hill headquarters well aware of the heavy expectations that come with the top job.
Brisbane’s last title victory came in 2006 and there is pressure from inside and outside the club to deliver another trophy soon.
But Seibold is confident that with the current playing group, there is no limit to what the Broncos can achieve in 2019 and beyond.
“What excites me is that there is an opportunity for this particular group, led by (captain Darius Boyd) and myself, to create their own history,” he said.
“I see it as a real positive challenge. There’s always challenges regardless of what team you coach, regardless of what level you coach at. There’s some good days and there’s some not so-good days. I have to work as hard as I can to provide an environment for the group to get better.”
Bennett is the only premiership-winning coach in Brisbane’s history, with Ivan Henjak and Anthony Griffin two who have tried and failed before.
Henjak and Griffin also struggled to live up to Ben- nett’s legacy, with the duo constantly compared to the man regarded as “the supercoach”.
Seibold, however, said he knew what it was like to work in a pressure-cooker environment, after serving his first year as an NRL coach at the Rabbitohs.
He also shrugged off any comparisons that may come with Bennett and said he knew the two coaches were in very different stages of their careers.
“The club I’ve been working at for the last 12 months as head coach has got Russell Crowe as an owner and it’s had a long history down there,” Seibold said of South Sydney.
“I’m used to having media at training every single day and
THE LAST TIME I WAS EXPOSED TO WAYNE AS A COACH WAS IN 1995. THAT’S A LONG TIME AGO NOW. IT’S NOT ABOUT COMPARISON. WAYNE’S LEGACY AS A HEAD COACH IS PROBABLY SECOND TO NONE ANTHONY SEIBOLD
I’m used to having that sort of scrutiny.
“The last time I was exposed to Wayne as a coach was in 1995. That’s a long time ago now. It’s not about comparison. Wayne’s legacy as a head coach is probably second to none.
“He’s had so much success across a sustained period of time. It’s certainly not about me comparing myself with Wayne or anything like that.
“I’ll do things my way. I’ve been coaching for 13 years … it’s something I’m really passionate about. It’s not something that I’ve done only for a year or two.
“It’s something I’ve invested a lot of my life in.”