Mind games expose true nature of Wayne Bennett and Anthony Seibold ahead of grudge match
Big games bring out the best and worst in coaches.
The great ones not only have an ability to handle pressure, they thrive on it. Others buckle under the heat.
Let’s just say this week has been an interesting study of the conflicting styles of Wayne Bennett and Anthony Seibold ahead of Thursday night’s grudge match between South Sydney and Brisbane, and just where their respective careers sit.
Bennett kicked it off when he jokingly made out he would have to check his diary to see who the Rabbitohs were playing after their win over Penrith.
Wayne Bennett has utilised the media in fine form ahead of the clash with Brisbane. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
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Then Seibold got on his high horse and walked out on his press conference following the game against Cronulla after taking exception to a few questions about his relationship with Rabbitohs players.
It wasn’t even a Sydney scribe asking the questions, it was veteran Brisbane journalist Paul Malone.
Now “Scobie” hardly had the greatest relationship with Bennett, but he was just doing his job. But Seibold still took his questioning personally, like it was a plant from Bennett.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Anthony Seibold is under immense pressure at Brisbane. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Surely Seibold, who studied at Harvard, should have been smart enough to know these questions were coming and had his answers ready.
Then Bennett took it upon himself to show his respect to Darius Boyd by doing one-on-one interviews with any media outlet that asked ahead of the Brisbane captain’s 300th milestone game.
While some attempted to construe this as Bennett playing mind games with Seibold and Brisbane’s management, it was nothing more than a genuine attempt to show his admiration for a player he coached in 292 of those games, and a person he treats more like a son than a piece of meat.
Bennett has shown his craft ahead of Thursday’s grudge match. Picture: Phil Hillyard
But instead of making Boyd’s milestone the focal point of the Broncos’ build up, Seibold made the decision to tell halfback Kodi Nikorima he was not wanted.
Seriously, of all weeks to let this out of the bag.
For me, it said more about Seibold’s state of mind and the pressure he was obviously feeling than it did Nikorima’s shortcomings.
There are three things that define all the great coaches.
Kodi Nikorima is on the way out of Brisbane. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)
The first is their ability to identify talent and second is how they handle pressure.
Thirdly, perhaps most importantly, is the ability to create a team culture where players want to play for each other as much as the coach.
Ultimately, Seibold might be right with the first point here.
Nikorima might not be the halfback Brisbane had banked on and this 18-year-old Tom Dearden might well turn out to be a future superstar.
Darius Boyd will play his 300th NRL game. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
By all reports, Dearden is something special — and good luck to the kid if he goes out and brains the Bunnies on Thursday night.
But there are ways to do things with dignity. Dropping a bomb as big as this, especially ahead of your skipper’s 300th game, is surely not going to pull the playing group closer together, especially when it is one of the club’s most likeable players being thrown under the bus.
Nikorima has been developing in the Broncos system since he was 12 and apparently Alex Glenn was almost in tears when he spoke about Nikorima.
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Not only that, Nikorima apparently turned his back on much bigger offers the last time he negotiated his contract with the Broncos because he was told he was a part of the club’s long-term plans.
How Brisbane sells this the next time the club asks a player to take unders to stay is anyone’s guess.
Seibold is well within his rights to take the club any direction he sees fit, and there is no easy way to tell someone they are not wanted.
But the fact Brisbane even attempted a PR spin to try and make out Nikorima wouldn’t be playing on Thursday night because of an injury was just another kick in the guts.
Of course, the plan came unstuck when Nikorima told them to get stuffed — and you couldn’t blame him for that.
Even when the Sydney Roosters made the call to bring in Cooper Cronk over Mitchell Pearce, they did it in the off-season and it was managed as best it could. Pearce was not only told he could stay but that the club wanted him to stay.
Nikorima was told if he stayed, he’d be playing Queensland Cup next year.
I guess we won’t find out until the Broncos run on to ANZ Stadium on Thursday night what impact this has had on the playing group.
But it’s worth remembering the Broncos finished 2018 one win off the competition lead after the regular season with Nikorima and Anthony Milford playing in the halves.
That was despite playing most of the season without two of their three highest-paid players in Matt Gillett and Jack Bird.
Before this season kicked off, plenty of experts were saying the Broncos would be challenging the Roosters for the title.
Now some are trying to make out it was Seibold who left Souths better placed.
They can’t have it both ways.
And on that point, if anyone deserves credit for the position Souths are now in, it is Shane Richardson and Michael Maguire more so than Seibold or Bennett.
What can’t be disputed is that Bennett has done his best this week not to make it personal, even though everyone else has tried to do it for him.
Bennett already has seven premierships, but the one thing he will never win is the popularity vote — although his actions this week have again highlighted why the players will always have his back.
