Broncos coach 'issued' five-win ultimatum to save his job
When Brisbane crashed to their latest embarrassing defeat on Friday night - a chastening 48-0 thrashing by the Wests Tigers - the knives were out for coach Anthony Seibold.
Calls to axe the Broncos coach grew louder after he watched another shocking implosion from his side that leaves the proud club languishing near the bottom of the NRL ladder.
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Only in the second year of a five-year deal, Seibold has been given the backing of the Brisbane board, despite their alarming run of form that has seen fans call for his head.
However, News Corp reports that the Broncos board has done somewhat of a backflip on their previous stance by giving Seibold a 10-game period to turn things around.
In a column for the Sunday Mail, league reporters Peter Badel and Phil Rothfield have revealed Seibold needs to win five games out of those 10 in order to keep his job.
The report goes on to say that if he is unsuccessful, the Brisbane board will likely draw up a severance package for the coach.
With games against the Storm, Sharks, Rabbitohs, Raiders, Dragons, Roosters, Panthers, Titans, Eels and Cowboys in the next 10 weeks, it means that Seibold's side play six teams currently in the top eight - highlighting the magnitude of the task.
Seibold has previously stated that he will walk away from his role if he doesn't feel like he's the right person to coach the Broncos.
However, he sidestepped questions relating directly to that after the Tigers defeat, merely saying that it's “pretty raw after a performance like that”.
Commentators, former players, club legends and fans all lined up to take a shot at Seibold and the Broncos after Friday night's drubbing.
Seibold's side has won only one match since the season restarted from the COVID-19 break - last week's victory over the Bulldogs.
Any hopes off that win being a turning point for the side were shattered by the Tigers, however, after they recorded their first shut-out in eight years.
League legends Greg Alexander and Peter Sterling were among those to express concerns about the coach's future, insisting that he needed to make some tough decisions by dropping underperforming stars.
“He’s under enormous pressure, Anthony Seibold," Fox Sports commentator Greg Alexander said.
“And at the moment he’s allowing players that just are doing the jersey no justice to dictate his future.
“Unless he makes some tough decisions and gets rid of some senior players or at least drops them out of the team, the rot will continue.”
Seibold urged to make changes at the Broncos
Channel Nine's Peter Sterling and Andrew Johns agreed, conceding that it will be almost impossible for Brisbane's board or the coach not to swing the axe.
"We saw the pressure that Anthony Seibold was under after that six-week spell, it was relentless and it's only going to increase," Sterling said.
"I know as a club, coach and players you can't listen to outside noise, but this is going to be deafening."
Their disastrous effort against the Tigers prompted calls for halves Anthony Milford and Brodie Croft, the latter of whom had a horror defensive night, to be axed.
"Anthony Seibold has been more than accommodating with the team he's stuck with over the last seven weeks," former captain Corey Parker said on Fox Sports.
"There comes a time where you just can't do that anymore.
"There's some individuals in that side that just aren't up to the standard that they are required to be and it's unacceptable."
Seibold agreed the team's performance was inexcusable, but also said changes would be difficult with the amount of talent in the injury ward.
A nasty leg injury to Corey Oates saw him join a lengthy list that includes Matt Lodge, Kotoni Staggs, Jake Turpin, David Fifita, Jordan Kahu, Jack Bird and skipper Alex Glenn.
Lodge, Staggs and Turpin could be back next week.
with AAP
