Welcome to NRL’s true pressure test
BRISBANE legends have warned Wayne Bennett’s successor Anthony Seibold to brace for the brutal reality check of delivering premiership success at the Broncos.
Former Broncos Wally Lewis, Wendell Sailor and Gorden Tallis believe nothing can prepare the largely unproven Seibold for the pressure of coaching Queensland’s flagship sporting club.
Seibold is ostensibly an NRL coaching rookie, with his 2018 campaign at South Sydney representing his maiden season in the big league.
Seibold steered the Rabbitohs to within one win of the grand final, but he now faces the ultimate task – making Brisbane a title-winning force.
The Broncos are mired in their longest premiership drought in their history, having failed to win a title since 2006, and Brisbane’s finest servants say Seibold is about to confront searing levels of expectation.
“He will be under the spotlight every day,” said “The King” Lewis, Brisbane’s foundation captain.
“Anthony Seibold appears to be a very good coach but the attention that will come his way at the Broncos cannot be underestimated.
“The Broncos are the big show in a one-team town.
“He won’t be sharing the attention with a pile of other clubs and coaches like he is in Sydney at the Rabbitohs.”
Seibold, 44, has yet to win a premiership at any level.
The Rockhampton product twice finished ninth with Intrust Super Cup club Mackay in 2012-13.
He steered Melbourne’s under-20s squad to eighth spot in 2014.
“Good luck to Anthony Seibold,” Tallis said. “I know him, he’s a great fella, but he’s got a big job.
“Broncos coaches only get judged on winning grand finals. He comes from a club (Souths) where all their focus each year is on finishing higher than the Roosters.
“I’ve worked at both clubs (Souths and Brisbane).
“At the Broncos, you have to finish higher than every single team in the competition. “If you don’t, it’s a failure. “There’s a lot of pressure. “Seibold also has to follow in Bennett’s footsteps and we know how it went for Anthony Griffin and Ivan Henjak.”
NRL coaching rookies Henjak and Griffin were given their big breaks by the Broncos, only to be sacked after failing to deliver the club’s seventh premiership.
Sailor said Seibold’s former stint at the Broncos as a lowergrade player will have given him an insight into the professional standards of the club.
“There is a lot of pressure that comes with the job as we have seen with Henjak and Griffin,” he said.