Anthony Seibold is confident that the Manly Sea Eagles will be able to turn around their season and could even make a run to the top-four despite back-to-back losses to begin their 2026 season.
Coming within one point of defeating last year’s minor premiers last week, it was a different story on Sunday afternoon as they struggled to defeat a depleted Newcastle Knights side.
Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Even when superstar duo Dylan Brown and Kalyn Ponga departed the field due to injuries, the Sea Eagles were only able to score a single try and looked lacklustre in attack.
“There’s not a lot of small wins today, I’ve got to say. We were well beaten and we were well below par,” Seilbold said after the match.
“We were well beaten, well below par so we’re disappointed with that because I thought we were really good for periods last week.
“We didn’t handle some of the areas we made today and just couldn’t show enough resolve. We had a fair bit of footy inside our 20 but we couldn’t get it into field position.
“Two times we did in the first-half we actually scored. I thought I was reasonably confident at half-time. I thought we could chase that down and we started really well there.
“But unfortunately we didn’t give ourselves a chance execution-wise and we missed the mark with our contact and the physical battle.”
Seibold: ‘A lot went wrong!’ | 04:51
However, instead of looking at the negatives, Seibold admitted that he won’t panic and believes his side could make a run to the finals as they head into the bye week before facing off against former skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and the Sydney Roosters.
They currently sit winless at the bottom of the table, alongside the Broncos, Cowboys and Dragons, with two losses.
“One thing we won’t do is panic or change our schedule. We’re very well prepared and well planned. I’ve been 0-2 before and been the top-four side as a coach,” Seibold added.
“Look, the really good teams in the competition win at 60%, the good teams win at 50% and so there’s another 22 games to go.
“We need to show far more improvement than what we showed today but I’ve got a lot of faith in the group.
“That hasn’t changed but we were well-beaten so you’ve got to know that and work out why but we’ll do that tomorrow (with a).
“Then we’ll give the players the RLPA days off for three days and then we’ll come back in and get to work.”