'Bigger than football': Broncos coach rocked by 'serious' family matter

Anthony Seibold will be forced to undergo 14 days of self-isolation after remaining in Sydney on Friday night due to a “serious” family matter.

The Broncos announced on Saturday that coach Seibold could not fly back with the team to Brisbane on Saturday and will therefore be forced to quarantine for 14 days once he gets back.

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It means he will sit out Brisbane's next two games and a fortnight of training.

“Anthony is dealing with a serious family matter and could not fly back to Brisbane with the team after the Rabbitohs game last night,” CEO Paul White said.

“He expects to be able to return to Brisbane within 48 hours but in line with COVID regulations he will need to self-isolate for 14 days once he is back in Queensland.

“Anthony will return to the Broncos after that. Assistant Coach Peter Gentle will coach the team in Anthony’s absence.

“We are working with Anthony to give him all the support he and his family need at this time, and we ask media to respect his privacy.”

Channel 7 reporter Chris Garry had earlier reported that Seibold had broken the NRL’s quarantine bubble to attend a “family emergency.”

“He was called late last night for a family issue that is sad and much bigger than football,” Garry wrote on Saturday.

“He will be barred from coaching team for a fortnight as he isolates.”

Souths win grudge match with Broncos

South Sydney were without their own coach against the Broncos on Friday night after Wayne Bennett breached virus restrictions by dining at a Sydney restaurant.

Stand-in coach Jason Demetriou got a taste of revenge against the club that sacked him, masterminded a 28-10 win over Brisbane.

At a cold and wet ANZ Stadium, the Rabbitohs added another layer to Brisbane's pain in a game that was lucky to be played given the biosecurity breaches of both clubs in the days prior.

And while the drama of the week dominated headlines, the underlying grudge sparked by an ugly coaching swap in which Demetriou was a casualty bubbled to the surface once the whistle blew.

Back in 2018 the ex-Broncos assistant interviewed for the job that was eventually given to former Souths coach Seibold.

Halfback Tom Dearden and fullback Darius Boyd combined well in attack, each having a hand in the Broncos' two tries - one of which came for returning forward David Fifita early in the second half.

On the wrong end of a 10-4 penalty count, it all crumbled.

“I'm never one to talk about the referees and there was a couple of decisions there that quite frankly the players, and myself and the other coaching staff were left a little bit bewildered by,” Seibold said.

“It's certainly not an excuse to why we lost.

“It's probably the position we're in, sitting second last on the ladder and 50-50 calls don't generally go to teams sitting at the bottom of the table.

“I'll have a look at it but it was very frustrating.”

with AAP