The pressure is mounting on coaches as several underperforming teams face the prospect of missing out on the playoffs and Manly’s Anthony Seibold is under the gun with his team spiralling down the ladder.
Seibold is contracted to the Sea Eagles until the end of 2027 but according to a Sydney Morning Herald report, he has just two matches over the course of the next month to turn their season around or he could be shown the door.
Manly have won just six of their 14 starts in 2025 and they copped a 28-8 thumping from last-placed Gold Coast on Friday night in another hammer blow to their finals chances.
Seibold held one-on-one meetings with his players on Monday to express his disappointment in their performances and formulate ways to get the team firing again.
As part of the mid-season overhaul, he is set to move Tom Trbojevic from fullback to centre with young gun Lehi Hopoate inheriting the No.1 jersey ahead of schedule.
Trbojevic has struggled to recapture the form that led him to Dally M Medal honours just four years ago and has been a shadow of his former self this season, leading to his omission from the NSW Origin team.
Manly have the bye this week and need to account for fellow strugglers Wests Tigers and South Sydney, both at Brookvale Oval, leading into their final bye in Round 19 for the club to continue showing faith in Seibold.
They then face a horror stretch against Melbourne, Canterbury, the Roosters and Canberra which will ultimately decide whether they have any chance of qualifying for the top eight.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Clubs fuming over ARL Commission’s judiciary rule change
NRL clubs are up in arms after the ARL Commission has handed itself new powers to step in when judiciary verdicts are insufficient.
NewsCorp reports that an email has been sent to clubs to inform them that the Commission can step in to sanction a player who has been cleared by the match review committee if they believe a judiciary hearing is needed.
“A change has been made to the Judiciary Code to further safeguard fairness to clubs and players and player safety and strengthen the match review process by adding a further layer of protection.
“The change provides both the commission and judiciary more flexibility with a view to ensuring clubs and players are treated fairly.”
The email has gone down like a lead balloon with the clubs who are concerned about the Commission interfering with the independence of the judiciary process.
On the flip side, the ARL could also reduce a ban handed out by the match review committee if the Commissioners think it is too harsh.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Golden strike rate for Lofi
Gold Coast winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira is on track to be one of the greatest try scoring machines of all time after notching his 50th career four-pointer in just 52 games.
The 23-year-old said it was “crazy” that he equalled former Parramatta flyer Semi Radradra as the fastest to 50 tries in the NRL era.
Khan-Pereira reached the milestone with a try double in the Titans’ 28-8 win over Manly on Friday night to take his career tally to 51.
“Just comparing myself with Radradra is pretty crazy. It’s a cool stat,” he said.
If he keeps his strike rate up in the years to come, Khan-Pereira could overhaul the best of the best.
The leading try scorers of all time are former North Sydney and Manly marvel Ken Irvine (212 tries in 238 games), South Sydney speed demon Alex Johnston (202 in 233) and Melbourne magician Billy Slater (190 in 313).
Khan-Pereira has a better try-scoring strike rate than all of them.
His achievements are even more remarkable considering he plays for a side that has a win record of just 35 per cent in the games he has played.
Compare that to the win rates of the teams Irvine (55 per cent), Radradra (51 per cent) and Slater (77 per cent) played with.
Khan-Pereira is a humble man and credited his left centre Brian Kelly, who set him up for one of his tries against Manly, as an inspiration and creative force.
“Me and BK have got a mad combo,” Khan-Pereira said.
“We have worked on it for many years now. BK took me under his wing and I read him like a book. That try, where he set me up (against Manly), he was looking on the inside, I just knew he was going to pass it to me.
“We are only going to get better.”
Khan-Pereira announced himself as a rare talent when he scored 25 tries in just 19 games for Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup in 2022.
“The Burleigh boys put me on the map and big (centre) Sami Sauiluma set me up for just as many tries as BK has done,” he said.
“I couldn’t be where I am today without those Burleigh boys.”
Khan-Pereira didn’t start playing rugby league until the age of 11 after growing up playing soccer.
The former Queensland under 18s representative is qualified for the Maroons and has played twice for the Prime Ministers XIII against Papua New Guinea.
He has Indigenous and Pakistani heritage.
Friday night’s win was more remarkable considering the last-placed Titans were without 11 top 30 players through State of Origin and injuries, against a Manly side that did not have an Origin representative missing for the first time since 2015.
The Titans travel to Parramatta, also on the bottom of the NRL ladder with 12 points, on Sunday night.
with AAP
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/ZQ2F8Wg News: Coach given two games to turn season around, star set for shock switch, clubs angry over judiciary rule change
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