Phil Gould's role in Anthony Seibold opting to get back on the NRL coaching horse
By Simon Brunsdon21st Feb 2023
Anthony Seibold has revealed the role Phil Gould played in convincing him not to quit NRL coaching after a disastrous stint in Brisbane.
Seibold has taken the reins of Manly this year, the third club he has been head coach at, after starting with the Rabbitohs before his ill-fated move to Red Hill.
The Broncos made the finals in his first year in charge in 2019, but ended the campaign with a 58-0 quarter-final thumping at the hands of Parramatta.
Things went downhill fast and Seibold was sacked in the middle of the following season, as the club sunk to its first ever wooden spoon.
Amid the horror Seibold was bashed from pillar to post, with many laying the blame for Brisbane's demise solely at the coach's feet.
"There was certainly a time after my previous head coach experience that I thought maybe I didn't want to be a head coach again," Seibold told 9News on Tuesday.
But while much of the game was tearing him down, Seibold found an ally in Bulldogs supremo and respected former coach Gould.
"Phil was really generous with his time when I was coaching the Broncos," Seibold revealed.
"There was one time I spent a full day at Phil's house... talking with one of the best minds in the game for the best part of six or seven hours.
"There was a message he said to me after I finished up at the Broncos, it was around, 'don't hide behind the curtains' - the message I took was even though (it had been) a really challenging time, get back out there and hold your head high."
After his nightmare stint in Brisbane, Seibold went to England to help Eddie Jones coach the national rugby team.
He was given England rugby's blessings late last year to take up an offer from the Sea Eagles.
