Manly sack coach Anthony Seibold after Sea Eagles winless start to NRL season

The writing was on the wall and now the club has acted after fans vented their fury over Manly’s horror start to the season.

Headshot of Ben McClellan
Ben McClellan
The Nightly
Anthony Seibold has been sacked.
Anthony Seibold has been sacked. Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The Sea Eagles have sacked coach Anthony Seibold after the club suffered its third loss in a row last night.

Despite Seibold saying post‑match he had not considered his coaching future — despite having failed to win a game in 2026 after signing a two‑year contract extension last year — it was announced tonight that he had left the club “effective immediately”.

It is understands the Sea Eagles informed Seibold of their decision in the fallout from Thursday night’s 33-16 loss to the Sydney Roosters.

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It was the Sea Eagles’ third consecutive loss to begin the season and ended with home fans chanting “Seibold Out” from the hill at Brookvale Oval.

“The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have today confirmed that Head Coach Anthony Seibold will depart the Club effective immediately,” the club said in a statement.

“The Sea Eagles thank Anthony for his service and contribution to the Club and wish him and his family all the best for the future.

“The Club is disappointed with its start to the season but remains focused on making the 2026 season a success.

“The Club will shortly confirm the appointment of an interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. “

Cherry-Evans was booed on every touch in his return to Brookvale, even if the Manly great still had the last laugh as he played a role in four of the Roosters’ six tries.

But by game’s end, there were chants of “Seibold out” from the main grandstand, with loud boos at fulltime.

“I didn’t hear the fans, but what do you want me to do? I turn up, work hard for the group,” Manly coach Seibold said post game.

“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.”

Seibold was handed a two-year extension at Manly for 2026 and 2027 after making the 2024 finals.

But after pressure grew on his job last year, the Sea Eagles have a crucial few weeks with games against the Dolphins, St George Illawarra and North Queensland.

“I can’t control that decision,” Seibold said, when asked about his future.

“Only (chairman) Scott (Penn) and the ownership group can control that, so there’s no point me wasting any energy or time on that.

“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.”

The Sea Eagles are the second club Seibold has been sacked form after his highly publicised move to the Broncos in 2019 in coach swap with Wayne Bennett ended with him leaving less than two years into a five-year deal in 2020 when Brisbane won three of 13 games.

He started his head coaching career at South Sydney where he lead them to a preliminary final in 2019 and was awarded the Dally M Coach of the Year Award.

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