NEWS Seibold: "remember to have fun"

McHunt

McHunt

International Rep
Contributor
Aug 25, 2018
16,191
28,776
As shareholders brace for an inevitable season cancellation, Coach Anthony Seibold pens this essay of hope and inspiration for fellow Murdoch stablemates, the Courier Mail.


Seibold

Fun will find a way.

Seibold writes:


"THE National Rugby League season has plenty in common with workplaces around Australia. You bring together a diverse group of people and you aim to get the best team performance out of them. Rugby league is a difficult sport, so it’s not for everyone. Some young men are motivated by the desire to get out of poverty. Others are driven purely by wanting to reach the highest levels possible."

Followed by:

"Others play because they love competition in the same way they loved it when they first played footy as five-year-olds. The key is to move that diverse group towards a common goal. Our 2020 work gets serious tomorrow night when we open the season against the Cowboys at Townsville’s new stadium. Our players have trained hard since November. They have spent hours on the training field and in the gym."

And then:

"But everything that we need to learn to be successful this season doesn’t come from defensive drills or lifting weights. Life has a way of providing lessons when you don’t expect them. When I was a player in the Broncos system in the 1990s, football was still a part-time career for many. I had studied teaching and went straight from university to teach Year 6 at Holy Spirit school Bray Park."

Continuing from before:

"I was 21 years old and I thought I knew plenty. But I would learn a lot from one of my students. This young man in Year 6 lived with muscular dystrophy. He was in a wheelchair. Every day was a challenge for him. But he was one of the bravest people I have ever known. He enjoyed sitting and watching his classmates in the playground. But he was wary of getting too far into the playground because of the risk of contracting a cold or any condition that could further endanger his health. So, we spent much of that year building up his confidence to be more interactive with his classmates By year’s end he was taking part in activities as much as he could."

Futhermore:

"The confidence that he had developed was remarkable. And the sense of pride in watching him grow in confidence impacted all who worked with him. In so many ways, that brave young man taught me a lot more than I could ever teach him. He taught me about real perseverance, the joy of simple things and the importance of being grateful.

Next:

That year took me out of my comfort zone and into a crash-course into understanding more about the diverse needs of individuals. The bright, funny Year 6 girl was very different to the boy with muscular dystrophy, yet she also needed help to reach her goals."

Almost there:

"Our 2020 Broncos squad comes from very different backgrounds. One was a school captain at one of Brisbane’s best-known schools. One of our front-rowers came from a central Queensland property and recorded an OP1 at school. Others were not academically gifted yet have showed a high-level of dedication to become elite rugby league players."

And in conclusion:

"Some come from single-parent families, some from large families, some from middle-class backgrounds and others from very challenging financial situations. But, together, we will work towards our common goals starting with Friday night’s match. We need to borrow from that Year 6 student whom I had the great fortune to learn from. We need to persevere, we need to continually overcome challenges and we need to remember to have fun."

McHunt
 
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I really want to like Seibold as a coach. All of the things he says and how he carries himself would be impressive if he had runs on the board. If he becomes a coach that has enduring success, these kind of articulations will be very insightful.
However if he flops and doesn’t produce results than it all ends up being a little cringe.
 
You’ve been conditioned by Wayne to be neglected with no insight or communication. Go with it brother Jason ....

I think it’s the opposite. That mob have been conditioned to talk it up so much, it has become impossible for them to deliver.

All we've had is talk from them in recent years. Some of us just think it’s time they put up, or shut up...
 
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Pies:

"You learn from every experience. We all make mistakes in life and I made plenty, whether it was the decision to leave South Sydney and the way it was done, to challenges in 2020 during that Covid period when we didn’t get it right at the Broncos."​
“Ultimately 2020 was a challenging year and the club had a really tough time that year. There were some challenges that came my way at Brisbane, external and internal. I have been through a fair bit. One thing I am proud of is I got knocked down on the canvas – probably got knocked out if you are using the boxing analogy – but I have got back in the ring and I feel as though I have something to offer as a coach.”​
“It depends how you want to be judged. If I am on my deathbed and I am being judged as a footy coach, then I haven’t been successful in other areas of my life. It depends how you see it. I reckon I have shown that I am a survivor. Not a lot of people would have thought I could go to international rugby union and help that group grow."​
“Probably there were probably plenty of people that didn’t think I could come back and be a head coach in the NRL. But I am not going in to try to prove people wrong at all because that is not motivation. The motivation is to go in there to prove people right. I have been given some wonderful opportunities as a coach and this is another wonderful opportunity. That is my mentality. I want to get better as a coach. I want to help others to get better. That’s what I love about it. I love that team – that five minutes after a win, there is nothing better than that experience."​
“It is a common goal you have worked for all week. I love the planning and everything that goes into it. But I reckon one thing I learned is that it is about relationships. I didn’t get that right in Brissie.”​
“Look Eddie Jones was really excited for me to get an opportunity with England. One of the things the great coaches do really well is they want their assistant coaches to be better and they want their assistant coaches to get opportunities as a head coach. That is what Eddie said to me – he was really complementary in the role I have played here over the last 16 months and felt as though I deserved the opportunity. He has been super supportive and a fantastic mentor.”​
“The thing is I think people like Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika would have so much to offer the NRL. I think one of the things I learnt from international rugby was how big of a game rugby union is worldwide. We know AFL and NRL have a greater supporter and TV presence in Australia but the game worldwide is enormous."​
“It really is like a State of Origin every week. Those very elite coaches like Eddie and [Michael] Cheika, who not only have a love for rugby union but rugby league, those guys in whatever capacity or whatever role would be absolute gold for people. It would be just hard to get those guys back but they would have a lot to give a team in whatever capacity it was.”​
“I had strong leaders at Souths … I really valued their relationship. We were able to turn the club around in a season there – to finish 12th and then be half a game away from the grand final. It is a collaboration these days.The head coach as a dictator is long gone. Your leaders are key – strong, senior leaders in your playing group are key.”​
“I have spoken to Josh Schuster a number of times now and he has talent – the challenge is how he transfers that talent to the NRL. In the first instance it is about getting to know the guys, it is about building trust and building that relationship, not just myself but the new staff and the players. I have been watching Josh play since he was 14 or 15, when he was first signed to Manly. He has great talent, great ability."​
"I spoke to Josh just to see what support he needs. He was very, very good in his debut season in the NRL. He had a challenging season this year. One of the things I reckon I have learnt is players have to take ownership of their own careers as well."​
“That is one of the things I encourage all players in the NRL – take charge of your career because it goes so quick. He is working hard from what I understand. Talking to him he has that desire to get better and that is what you want in a player. He probably has a point to prove after a tough season last year.”​
“I haven’t spoken to Des Hasler. I don’t know Des that well – I have met him once or twice. When the time is right I will certainly reach out to Des. I am very respectful of what Des has done at the club and the legacy he has left.”​
“I feel as though I brought a fair bit to South Sydney in the year I coached them. For whatever reason it didn’t work in Brisbane but what do you do? You either give it away – I think that is actually failing. You have to learn from your mistakes. I have learned plenty. I am human – you don’t always get things right. I could have handled things differently at different times. I am sure plenty of other people around me could have handled things differently as well, but I come with optimism. I don’t come with thinking I can’t add to the group or add to the club. I certainly came better prepared.”​
“One thing I have learnt is not to always believe what you read. Call me naive, but I go in there with optimism about the group and where we can take the group. One thing you do is learn lessons from the past, but if you keep looking back you don’t focus on the now. I will go in there and look at things through clear eyes rather than what I have been told or read.”​
“I have great faith in Scott Penn and the Penn family. There were some really good people who I have already met through the club, whether they are on the board or connected to the club. I think (chief executive) Tony Mestrov has shown he is a strong leader of good character, Again, I don’t go in there with any preconceived ideas.'​
“If I had any concerns about the club, I wouldn’t have taken the opportunity. I am excited mate. I feel part of the community.VI didn’t play for the only club but I am proud and humbled to be asked to be the head coach. I am going in there for the right reasons and it is not because of the convenience of home.VI go there because I feel as though it is the right club at the right time for me and my career. I will give everything I have got to help the group grow and get better.”​
 
it would burn deep if he somehow finds success with Manly.

p.s. I did tell you someone would give him another shot as a head coach ...
 
it would burn deep if he somehow finds success with Manly.

It wouldn't paint the Broncos playing group in a good light if he finds success with Manly.

That would be 2 out of the 3 clubs he's coached that he's been successful at. The one thing in common with those two clubs is they had players with a high intelligence controlling the attack.

Makes our players look like dumb shits really and that's what he had to work with.
 
It wouldn't paint him well either. A good coach is a leader of men, he fucked that up and it's on him. If he succeeds in Manly then good for him, but he fucked up at the Broncos from the onset and throughout. Hopefully he's learnt his lesson, and he had to learn many of them here..
 
It was the perfect storm of the above two posts.
Rookie coach trying too hard with a team of deadshits who wanted it all handed to them on a platter.
That combination gives you a wooden spoon and a legion of disgruntled fans.

Seibold has some experienced heads to work with in the Manly side, unlike the team of kids he got at the Broncos where our most experienced player was a fullback ready to put to pasture.
 
He’s going in in similar circumstances to coming to us though and don’t forget, on his coaching record, South’s was the outlier not the other way round.
 
It was the perfect storm of the above two posts.
Rookie coach trying too hard with a team of deadshits who wanted it all handed to them on a platter.
That combination gives you a wooden spoon and a legion of disgruntled fans.

Seibold has some experienced heads to work with in the Manly side, unlike the team of kids he got at the Broncos where our most experienced player was a fullback ready to put to pasture.
Perhaps if he could have bought Adam with him when he came over to us may have helped. I am sure he is intelligent enough to understand his methods didn’t work with a young roster and mistakes were made. I’d like to think he will not make the same mistakes this time round and for one I wish him every success.
 

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