The cavalry has finally returned for Anthony Seibold as Brisbane fight to rescue themselves from their worst NRL start in 20 years against Cronulla on Saturday.
Both Matt Lodge (throat) and Tevita Pangai Jnr (suspension) will play for the Broncos (1-5) at Suncorp Stadium, giving the side its strongest squad yet after six rounds marred by key absences that have left them equal last on the ladder.
A loss to the Sharks (3-3) would leave the Broncos at least four wins outside the top-four ahead of a road trip next weekend to face former coach Wayne Bennett and the high-flying South Sydney.
“We think it strengthens us and gives us a bit more experience,” Seibold.
“We’ve made some good strides last two weeks, but we’ll get a real good indication of where we’re at against a pretty fair Cronulla team.”
Andrew Johns declared Brisbane were the team to beat at the start of the season, but has since called for changes in the halves.
Captain Darius Boyd and hooker Andrew McCullough have also been under the microscope.
Seibold is doing his best to ignore the critics, defending his under-fire spine and instead putting the side’s lacklustre start down to poor one-on-one defensive misses and a general lack of possession.
“It’s not our attack – everyone’s focused on our attack for some reason – it’s missed tackles and we need to be better there,” Seibold said.
“(And a) lack of possession … we’ve had 47 per cent of the footy for the entire six rounds, which is extraordinarily low.
“I don’t see necessarily, if there has been criticism of those guys, that it’s warranted.
“I don’t see it as a lack of (killer) instinct; I think lack of possession is hurting us at the moment.”
Added to the 21-man squad for the first time as cover, Seibold confirmed 18-year-old half Tom Dearden won’t debut this weekend.
But the five-eighth, who engineered a 26-18 Queensland Cup victory for Wynnum Manly with only 46 per cent of possession last weekend, is keeping his superiors honest.
“It’s good reward for Tom,” Seibold said of his selection in the extended squad.
“He’s made a significant impact there (at Wynnum) … Tom’s playing good footy.”
Seibold said limiting Cronulla’s second-phase play would be key on Saturday, given they average an NRL-best 14 offloads per game this season.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Brisbane will be looking to avoid losing three straight games at home for the first time since 2014.
* The Broncos are missing the most tackles (29.8 per game), conceding the second most metres (1537) and the equal third most line breaks (4.7).
* Since 1954, when the compulsory grand final came in, only four teams have made the finals after having one win or less through seven games.