Why history suggests there is still hope for Seibold and Manly this season

Manly officials were not commenting on the future of Anthony Seibold on Friday, but history suggests the season is far from over for the coach and the Sea Eagles.

Seibold insisted he was still the best man to coach Manly, despite angry Manly fans chanting “Seibold out” at full-time on Thursday night.

The Sea Eagles crashed to their third straight loss from as many starts, going down to the Sydney Roosters 33-16 at 4 Pines Park.

But Seibold lost three of his opening five games with South Sydney in 2018, only for the Rabbitohs to rally and make the preliminary finals.

The following season, as head coach of the Broncos, Seibold again started the year poorly, with just one win from the opening six rounds. But again, Brisbane recovered from the slow start to reach a qualifying final.

Seibold is contracted with Manly until the end of 2027, and said after the Roosters defeat that on-field results would quieten the noise around his future.

“I didn’t hear the fans, but what do you want me to do?” he said. “I turn up and work hard for the group. I feel I’ve got a group there that can win games of footy and they fight hard.

“If we didn’t have any fight in us, we would have got towelled up by 60 points with those stats.

“I can’t control that decision [about my future]. Only Scott [Penn] and the ownership group can control that, so there’s no point me wasting any energy or time on that.

“I think I’ve invested a lot of time in the club over the last three-and-a-bit years, and made a lot of sacrifice with my time. But if I’m not the right person, I’m sure Scott will tell me. I still believe that we can do something together as a group.

“I haven’t really put any thought into it. Three games into a two-year extension ... it hasn’t sort of been a focus for me.”

The night was meant to be about the return to 4 Pines Park of Cherry-Evans, who spent 15 seasons at Manly, playing a record 352 games and winning a premiership in 2011. On Thursday, for the first time at Brookvale, he turned right to enter the visitors’ sheds.

While he laughed off the constant booing, Cherry-Evans also felt a tinge of sadness for the Sea Eagles and Seibold.

When told about the fans turning on Seibold, Cherry-Evans said: “I was here for a long time, and I don’t feel great about seeing them without a win yet.

“There are too many people here I have too much of a friendship with to see sad, or down, or getting booed. I don’t love that.

“As much I can sit there and show empathy, the reality is I’m a Rooster now, and that’s where my focus is; I have to stay in my lane when it comes to that.”

Manly led the Roosters 10-8 at half-time, despite being pinned to their own end for most of the opening 40 minutes. They finished two long-range tries, including one in the opening 30 seconds, and Tolu Koula’s breath-taking 85m effort when he zipped past five defenders.

Cherry-Evans was excellent for the Roosters, seeming unfazed by the boos and colourful posters being waved around inside the ground.

A few conversations with teammates who had been through similar situations – including Spencer Leniu, who was given a frosty reception the first time he returned to play against former club Penrith, helped Cherry-Evans prepare.

“It was a really bizarre experience, it was a really different experience,” Cherry-Evans said. “It felt like they had to do it [boo] because that’s what you have to do.

“From my end there was nothing but love. Even after the game, I didn’t feel any hostility – they booed at times, which is fine, but I really did feel like it was in jest.”

One positive for Manly was the debut of 19-year-old prop Simi Laiafi, who clearly has a future, but Jason Saab will miss next Thursday’s clash against the Dolphins after being charged for a high shot on Hugo Savala.

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