I still haven't quite figured out the reason he persisted with Nikorima for so long and didn't really make any attempts to replace him long-term, like, we had a cameo from Benji, a couple of young Halfback depth signings that left a lot to be desired (O'Sullivan, Scarlett, Murphy & Dargan), but there was really no genuine attempt from him to sign a sure thing at Halfback to partner Milford.
A part of me thinks it was pure stubbornness, he wanted to make the Milford & Nikorima combination work because otherwise he'd look the fool for letting Taylor and (to a much lesser extent) Hunt walk when they were both more than happy to stay.
I have no doubt he would've shown the same stubbornness when it came to McCullough & Boyd as well, we wouldn't even be having this discussion about McCullough if Bennett was coach, because we'd know Macca would be back in the second he was at 60% fitness. I think Seibold is different, he's already proven that by acknowledging that the Milforima experiment had run it's course.