‘Bad blood’: Seibold’s biggest test as Sea Eagles on brink of new civil war — Crawls

What lessons in crisis management did Anthony Seibold learn from his troubled days at the Brisbane Broncos?

We’re about to find out.

No one is saying what is going on at Manly right now is all the fault of the coach.

But make no mistake, when there’s drama at any NRL club it is the coach’s job to fix.

Do we need reminding of the Rainbow Jersey fiasco that sent Des Hasler packing?

Because this again has the makings of a rugby league nuclear explosion if it isn’t handled delicately, and this time it is going to be Seibold walking around in the bomb suit.

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Right now, Manly as a club is a powder keg of emotions heading into Sunday’s clash at 4 Pines Park against Parramatta on the back of Daly Cherry-Evans’ announcement this week.

While everyone involved has attempted to play down reports of any internal division or animosity, there are very different conversations leaking out of the club as all sides scramble to take the high moral ground.

Depending on who you listen to, Cherry-Evans, chief executive Tony Mestrov and Seibold should all share the blame for what has gone wrong.

But what can no longer be disputed is that there is bad blood between the veteran skipper and Manly management, and it has the potential to tear their season to shreds if Seibold doesn’t get on top of it.

Throw in the fact it was also thrown out for public consumption this week that DCE didn’t invite Seibold to his wedding late last year, so you can safely assume the two are already not as close as most coaches and captains.

And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, now the universally respected Trbojevics have been thrown into the melting pot with their futures also uncertain.

With both Jake and Tom off contract at the end of next year, it means the club has until November 1 to lock them up before they can start negotiating with rivals.

While most would naturally assume there’s no chance either Tom or Jake would ever leave their beloved Manly, we would have all thought the same about Cherry-Evans a week ago.

Already the speculation has started that Jake could be looking at a massive pay cut from his current $1 million-a-season salary, with a figure of up to $400,000 thrown up on NRL 360 this week.

What needs to be factored in is that Jake will be 33 when the new deal comes into play.

But what is non-negotiable is that all parties still need to come up with a price that keeps the veteran forward at the club.

Because the potential fallout if Jake doesn’t stay would be Armageddon for Seibold if it in turn forced Tom out the door.

But adding to the degree of difficulty is Turbo’s history of hamstring injuries, and the fact he will also be heading into his 30s by that stage.

So should he still command top dollar similar to the $1.2 million-a-season he is currently earning?

Or will the Sea Eagles management approach this similar to the DCE situation and try and lowball Tom in the hope his loyalty keeps him at the club?

While Mestrov clearly took great offence to the suggestion DCE was ‘lowballed” this week, the fact is even the final $1.4 million offer over two seasons that was put to Cherry-Evans after he made his decision was still a slap in the face for a current top three NRL playmaker.

Andrew Johns even suggested in his column on Thursday that at 36 DCE could still command $1.5 million-a-season despite what it says on his birth certificate.

Maybe someone should also give Manly management a subtle reminder of the public fallout last year after it emerged Tom had requested a pay cut of as much as $750,000 over two years as a show of good faith to try and absorb some of the guilt he was feeling from the impact his ongoing injuries had on the team.

While it was initially spruiked as a feelgood story to praise Tom’s selfless stance, many also saw it was another show of disrespect from the club that they didn’t step in put and stop to it well before the NRL made the call it couldn’t be counted off Manly’s salary cap.

So now the Sea Eagles must come up with what all parties deem a fair figure going forward knowing their champion fullback does have dodgy hamstrings but on his day is still up with the greatest players in the game.

And that’s before you factor in what both Jake and Tom deliver off the field.

Following Seibold’s appointment, I clearly remember Scott Penn coming out during the trials with a thinly veiled swipe at Hasler when Penn praised Seibold for “galvanising” the team and making the young players “believe in themselves”.

That was February 2023.

Just over two years later and we have the rumblings of yet another Manly civil war.

It’s worth noting that it was only in December that the club extended Seibold’s contract until the end of 2027.

In hindsight, perhaps they should have knocked over a new deal for DCE and the Trbojevics at the same time.

WALKER’S RETURN TIMELINE CREATES CONFLICT

There are conflicting theories about when star Roosters halfback Sam Walker will be back playing.

Skipper James Tedesco said last week that the 22-year-old was due to return from his ACL knee injury around the round 12 mark of the season.

I keep hearing round 16 is closer to the more preferred return date for those with connections to Walker outside the club.

While Tedesco’s recovery timeline of nine months is in keeping with the going rate to return from an ACL surgery in modern game, there remains a risk for younger players returning early with these types of injuries.

Of course, no one is suggesting the Roosters would ever put Walker’s health in jeopardy, and the doctor in charge will ultimately have the final say.

But it will be interesting to see if everyone remains on the same page in the coming months as Walker’s return edges closer.

FLANNO/ILIAS FALLOUT COULD GET UGLY

One of the most intriguing stories of the round will be how Lachlan Ilias responds against the Storm in the wake of Shane Flanagan’s public spray following the loss to Souths.

You get the feeling it could get ugly with either Ilias or Flanagan’s son Kyle living on borrowed time with young gun five-eighth Lyhkan King-Togia again listed on the extended bench.

Surely the Dragons have more faith in their own recruitment process than bringing in a halfback returning from a broken leg and giving him just three games to prove himself?

TIME FOR WALSH TO MAKE A STATEMENT

Reece Walsh and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow should be sending a thank you card to Queensland teammate Daly Cherry-Evans for taking the blowtorch off the respective fullbacks in the countdown to the Broncos/Dolphins blockbuster.

How Walsh has flown under the radar after his recent error riddled performances is a rugby league miracle given all the attention the Broncos’ glamour boy usually receives.

It helps that Payne Haas has hogged the spotlight, while Adam Reynolds continues to turn back the clock.

But coming up against Tabuai-Fidow, this is surely the night when the No 1 from each team must stand up and deliver.

As it stands, Walsh’s hopes of keeping the Queensland No 1 jumper from Kalyn Ponga are disappearing by the week.

While the Hammer hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire either.