Anthony Seibold twist emerges in Manly coaching drama: 'It is unusual'

Stunning new reports have emerged that Anthony Seibold is already making moves at Manly, despite not officially being appointed as the new coach of the Sea Eagles.

Seibold has been touted as a near certainty to take over as Manly's head coach, in the wake of club legend Des Hasler's sacking.

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Manly officials have reportedly been impressed by Seibold's strides since taking a job on Eddie Jones' coaching staff with the England rugby side.

Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn has also talked up Seibold, who was sensationally sacked as head coach of the Brisbane Broncos in 2020, just two years into a six-year deal.

The coach's final season at the Broncos coincided with the club's first ever wooden spoon.

Seibold is reportedly set to be handed a three-year deal as the new head coach of Manly, who have made a number of recent changes to their coaching setup for 2023.

The Daily Telegraph's Dean Ritchie reports that Michael Monaghan has been axed from the Manly coaching staff, following the exits of fellow assistant Chad Randall and head of high performance Don Singe.

Ritchie told the Big Sports Breakfast on Wednesday that Seibold had actually made phone calls to the outgoing staff, despite not officially being appointed at Manly.

“The only thing I found unusual was, I’m told that Anthony Seibold is ringing these coaches and telling them that their (Manly) career is over. I just found that unusual given Seibold hasn’t been officially appointed yet himself,” Ritchie said.

The show's co-host and former Australia Test cricket captain Michael Clarke responded by declaring: “Surely it can’t be his job to fire not his staff (sic).”

“It must be an indication he’s got the job,” Ritchie said, before adding: “But it is unusual."

The reports come amid speculation that former Cronulla premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan had accepted a deal to become Seibold's assistant at Manly.

However, the 56-year-old has refuted any such suggestion after telling Fox Sports that he hadn't spoken to Manly “at all”.

Flanagan is working at the Rugby League World Cup in England as Papua New Guinea's director of football, and also holds a role as a recruitment consultant at the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Manly were understood to be keen to get Flanagan on board as soon as possible, with Seibold's likely start date pushed back to the end of November, due to his coaching commitments with Eddie Jones' England rugby side.

Canterbury Bulldogs icon Jim Dymock has also been linked to an assistant role at Manly alongside Seibold.

Broncos icon's big Anthony Seibold warning

It comes after league legend Steve Renouf this week warned Manly over Seibold's likely appointment, with the Broncos icon scathing of the coach's ill-fated tenure with the Broncos.

Renouf is one of many in the NRL world still scarred by Seibold's disastrous two-year tenure as Brisbane's head coach, which culminated in the club's first NRL wooden spoon.

It was a mighty fall from grace after Seibold's rookie coaching season with South Sydney saw him named the NRL's Coach of the Year.

Renouf credited Seibold for his understanding of rugby league, but said his failure at the Broncos centred on an inability to connect with players and articulate what was described as an overly complicated game plan.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Renouf claimed the Sea Eagles had been "sucked in with all his psychobabble".

“He did it to us (the Broncos) and now he’s done it to them," Renouf claimed.

“I spoke to multiple players and they told me they didn’t know what was going on.

“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.”

Citing how former Broncos coach Wayne Bennett would frequently implore him 'don't think, just play', Renouf was sceptical Manly would benefit from Seibold's style.

“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," he said.

“Good luck to Manly, but I just can’t see how it can work. They’ll know in six months.”

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