Manly-Warringah has confirmed the appointment of Anthony Seibold as head coach for the 2023 season and beyond.
The Sea Eagles announced the news in a statement, confirming that the former Dally M Coach of the Year had signed a three-year deal with the club which would see him in charge of Manly until at least the end of the 2025 season the NRL
Seibold will be supported by new assistant coaches in Shane Flanagan and Jim Dymock, who have also agreed three-year deals with the Sea Eagles.
“I am very excited to be the head coach of the Manly Sea Eagles,” Seibold told Manly Media.
“Manly has a proud history so to have the opportunity to coach the team into 2023 and beyond is fantastic and I am very humbled and honored to be the head coach.”
Anthony Seibold as Broncos head coach in 2020. ©NRL Photos
Seibold returns to Sydney’s Northern Beaches after spending time as an assistant coach under Trent Barrett before joining the Rabbitohs as head coach in 2018.
In his first year as Rabbitohs coach, Seibold guided the club to a third-place finish and the preliminary final, and was named the Dally M Coach of the Year.
The following season he joined Brisbane, where he trained for two seasons, before mutually agreeing to an early termination of his contract following a tough 2020 campaign that saw the Broncos finish with the wooden spoon.
Manly has a proud history so to have the opportunity to coach the team in 2023 and beyond is fantastic and I am very humbled and honored to be the head coach.
New Manly coach Anthony Seibold
He later joined the Newcastle Knights as an assistant for the 2021 season before linking up with the England national rugby union team later that year, working as defense coach with former manager Wallabies boss Eddie Jones.
“One of the things I’m really proud of is that the last 16 months I went to a different country and a different sport and being able to be successful in a different code, it definitely rounded me out as a coach,” Seibold said.
“Having coached for a long period of time I know some seasons are more difficult than others but I bring a wealth of experience to the position and what attracted me to Manly was the club’s proud history.
“Having worked with Tom and Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans in the past, these relationships, plus the potential and talent I see in the current team, I see an opportunity to build and bring success to the Manly team.
“I’ve been able to bring in some assistant coaches with a lot of experience – Shane Flanagan is a Premier League winning coach with Cronulla who brings a lot of experience.
“Having someone sitting next to you who has been in your shoes comes with a greater empathy and understanding of the challenges that present themselves day to day and week to week.
“Shane will look after our attack and that will be built upon in pre-season but there is one thing that is non-negotiable and that is those areas of effort in the game.
Shane Flanagan led the Sharks to their first premiership in 2016.
“I’ve always been biased towards the things that don’t require skill or talent, and that’s where we want to try to push the playing group, try to improve the playing group in those areas.”
Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestrov said the appointments signal a new beginning for the club.
“Anthony has an incredible knowledge of the game and what is required at the highest level,” Mestrov said.
“We believe Anthony is the ideal person to lead this very talented and strong playing group to success in the coming years.”