Seibold's eye on the Roosters after 'strange' week for coaches
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Anthony Seibold says he found the sacking of Anthony Griffin by the fifth-placed Panthers strange and reiterated he's in no rush to make a decision on his own future as he intends to see out his contact at the Rabbitohs.
The brutal business of coaching comes as no surprise to Seibold, as a number of coaches over the last couple of seasons have unexpectedly been shown the door.
"It's a strange week in the coaching game, there's no doubt about that," Seibold said on Thursday.
"But if you look over the past 15 months or so people like Jason Taylor, Michael Maguire, Neil Henry and now Hook (Griffin) have lost their jobs.
"As far as I'm concerned I've got 15 months left here at the Rabbitohs - I don't see any need to rush it.
"My intention is to see the 15 months out here, but as we saw with Anthony Griffin the other day I'm sure his intention was to see the next two and a bit years out but things change in the game."
Burgess playing down Roosters rivalry
ANZ Stadium will host Friday night's blockbuster between the Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said Griffin's record of success meant he should pick up another NRL head coaching job in the future.
"He's a good enough coach; his record is really good. It's tough to take teams to finals and he's done that," Robinson said, adding that he felt for Griffin in the current situation.
"It's a tough game. It's the most enjoyable job - you guys might not believe me - but it's an amazing job to do what we do and it's tough when it gets cut short."
Souths are motivated to hold onto their spot on top of the Telstra Premiership ladder and cut short the Roosters run of four straight wins.
"There's been a fantastic rivalry between the two clubs for a long time, since 1908," Seibold said.
"Do we like the Roosters? No we don't. Do they like us? No they don't.
"The reality of it is there's two points up for grabs so it will be a good challenge for everyone.
"We're sitting at the top of the table at the moment and we want to stay there."
The Bunnies are battling a few key injuries with Adam Doueihi ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury he suffered in last week's win over the Storm, while skipper Greg Inglis is not set to return until round 23 against the Broncos.
Roberts Jennings will be missing on the wing with a hamstring injury and fellow speedster Campbell Graham is now in doubt for Friday's match with a wrist sprain.
Seibold said the team has coped well in recent weeks despite their left edge missing several players.
"Our left has been quite strong this year - Cody Walker and (John) Sutton have been really consistent," Seibold said.
"I think losing Adam Doueihi who played in the centres last week certainly hurts us and Greg is still another couple of week away.
"But the guys have continued to do their job and Hymel Hunt has an opportunity now to the a job there."
JWH: Souths are the benchmark
Latrell Mitchell's form for the Roosters in recent weeks hasn't gone unnoticed by the Bunnies, who intend to wear the 21-year-old out in defence, leaving him breathless in attack.
"He's been a big part of our preview this week," Seibold said of Mitchell.
"He's been in outstanding form. I think he carried over his form from the Origin series.
"He likes getting the ball in attack so we need to be really strong inside our 20-metre zone because I think he's scored six tries in the last couple of games, he's made numerous line breaks and tackle breaks.
"We need to try and play him down the other end, he doesn't carry too much down that end so if we can play down there a little bit it takes him out of the game."
