During one of the most candid press conferences of the year,Seibold explained Trbojevic’s centre shift was temporary and “wasn’t a punishment”;ridiculed reports he had threatened to strip Cherry-Evans of the captaincy;and said it was a “nonsense” to suggest the outcome of Friday’s clash against Wests Tigers would define his legacy.

“If I don’t have a job here any more,I’ll still be able to feed the family and that’s what’s most important,” he said.

Unlike Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy,Seibold isn’t a league lifer. The 50-year-old loves football,but has interests outside of it. Which is why he floated the idea of a succession plan to Manly management when negotiating his last contract extension.Michael Ennis has been mentioned as a potential option,but there is no set end date for Seibold,who is contracted until the end of 2027.

“I know there’s been some commentary around that,” he said. “One of the things about Manly in the past that I didn’t want to occur at this time,if you look at the last three or four coach changes,there’s been massive big blowups. The club starts again,the roster management or the playing group has to start again.

“What I felt was,when the club wanted me to stay on,I thought long and hard about it. Could I continue to grow the group and improve the group?

“Ultimately I thought,you know what,we’ve made a really good start to this journey,we finished week two of the finals last year,we brought through guys like Lehi[Hopoate] and Tolu[Koula] and those types of guys,we’ve got some really experienced guys,so I was really enjoying it.

“So I said,I’ll extend out the contract,but one thing I said to the club was,look,how about we think about a succession plan so somebody could come in,in my last year,start to take over decisions around the roster,so if at the end of 2027 I decide that’s the time for me to go,things are in place for the club going forward.

“It’s a considered decision with regards to putting the future of the club first,rather than it blowing up,you sack the coach,you’ve got to start again,the roster has got to be reshaped and so on.

“It came off a one-off conversation or two conversations around that. And then it got leaked to the media last week for whatever reason. But again it said more around some other people’s interests than mine.”

For now,though,it’s about preparing for the Tigers and not sweating the small stuff.

“I’ve got good perspective on all this stuff mate,I know what’s really important in life,” he said.

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