Anthony Seibold has insisted he’s still the best man to coach Manly, even as angry Sea Eagles demand “Seibold out” — and filled 4 Pines Park with mighty boos for the helmsman after their 33–16 loss to Sydney.
The Sea Eagles have started their 2026 NRL season with three consecutive losses, with the Round 3 bye the only saving grace to what may quickly become a fight to avoid last the wooden spoon.
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Manly fans had originally been booing Daly Cherry-Evans, who was playing at 4 Pines Park as the enemy for the first time in his 356 games in the NRL, but that vitriol eventually turned towards Seibold after the team blew a 10–8 half-time lead.
Not that Seibold seemed too worried — even suggesting he’d not heard the raucous boos that were loud and clear on the telly.
“I didn’t hear the fans, but what do you want me to do?” Seibold asked after the game. 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.”
He also refused to field questions about his short-term future, telling journalists to speak to Manly CEO Scott Penn. “I can’t control that decision. Only Scott [Penn] and the ownership group can control that, so there’s no point me wasting any energy or time on that.”
Seibold was recently re-signed by the Northern Beaches league club, extending his current NRL contract out to the end of 2027. That leaves him two seasons (of which he’s now four rounds into one) to turn things around.
“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,” he said. “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.”
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Instead, Seibold tried to pivot conversations to what he thought had been a “chalk and cheese” performance compared to Manly’s capitulation against the Knights in round two. Then, the Sea Eagles had kept close to Newcastle before being blown away late in the second to eventually record a 36–16 loss to a Knights side without Kalyn Ponga for fifty minutes.
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“If we compare that to our game against the Knights, it was chalk and cheese,” Seibold suggested. “We showed a ton of effort. But ultimately, the scoreboard is what we’ll be judged on; we lost, so everyone will comment on that.”
Manly will next head to Brisbane on Thursday week, to take on the Dolphins.
