Kangaroos' middle forward Patrick Carrigan has backed Manly's decision to reportedly hand Anthony Seibold a three-year deal to coach the club.
Carrigan, who is currently on tour in England with the Kangaroos squad, made his NRL debut under Seibold in 2019, the coach's first season at Red Hill.
Less than 18 months later, Seibold was being chased out of Brisbane by pitchforks shortly before they claimed their maiden wooden spoon, and his reputation around the Broncos has been ill-fated ever since.
Despite the constant conjecture over his short tenure, Carrigan is a big fan of Seibold, who briefly made Patrick captain at a young age, and is eager to see him return to the NRL.
โHe gave me my debut and a few of the other boys,โ Carrigan told The Daily Telegraph.
โA lot of the habits that helped me get to where I am are his habits. I had a really good relationship with him. I know if you are a young guy, he encourages you to be better.
โThings just didn't work out in Brisbane. The Broncs went their separate ways and Seibs went and did his own thing.
โEverything that Seibs did for me and I know a lot of the other younger boys โ everyone at the Broncos โ appreciated what he did.
โIn terms of being a great coach, he definitely has all the assets to be able to [put] Manly on the trajectory they have been on.
โIt is obviously a bit messy there at the moment but when they have players like the Trbojevic boys and Chez [Daly Cherry-Evans] and those sort of guys, they are going to be a hard team to beat.
โI am stoked to see him back in the NRL โ that would be awesome.โ
While his appointment as head coach is yet to be confirmed by the club, chairman Scott Penn gaveย Nine Newsย a glowing endorsement of Seibold before the board had even sacked Des Hasler from his position.
Brisbane's chairman Karl Morris also spoke to Manly to give the club a character reference for their former head coach.
A newly-minted Kangaroo, Carrigan says he hasn't had a bad experience with Seibold, and says he 'can't endorse him more'.
โHe is a footy head,โ Carrigan said.
โSo he really understands the game well. In terms of his work ethic as a coach, he is definitely going to do everything and not ask anything more of you than he would do himself.
โAll my experiences with Seibs were positive. If you want to survive and function in the NRL, you have to have a good work ethic first and foremost.
โHe definitely has that. He was coach of the year before he came to Brisbane. He did a lot for me. I was pretty young then and got an opportunity (to captain the Broncos) with Lexi [Alex Glenn].
โI will always be grateful to him for that. He has been a part of our journey along the way. I know a lot of the guys give him credit for what he did for us at the club.
โHe was great for me. I can't endorse him any more.โ
Carrigan is expected to line-up against Scotland on Saturday morning AEDT, however will have a fair share of contenders after Mal Meninga confirmed all seven players that missed selection against Fiji would line up against Scotland.
