Critics of under-fire Brisbane skipper Darius Boyd have been told to “back off” by coach Anthony Seibold ahead of Friday night’s crunch NRL clash with Penrith.
While Seibold was happy on Thursday to confirm ex-Queensland Reds player Izaia Perese would make his NRL debut off the bench, he was clearly not impressed with the flack Boyd had copped.
In a thinly veiled swipe at Sydney Roosters’ Test pivot Luke Keary, Seibold wondered why Boyd had been singled out after the Broncos five-eighth made just two metres from one run in last round’s scrappy win over North Queensland.
“He seems to be an easy target,” Seibold said of Boyd.
“I had a look through the competition last weekend, there is an Australian No.6 (Keary) playing for a team in Sydney who only made four metres last week and missed five tackles.
“Not one thing was said in the media about that. His team won and our team won.
“For whatever reason because Darius only had one run, he has been crucified all week from what I understand.
“I just think everyone needs to back off on Darius.”
Seibold admitted the Broncos attack looked “frantic” last round.
But he had no problem with his halves pairing of ex-fullback Boyd and regular hooker Jake Turpin at No.7.
“It’s been really challenging for them. Essentially they had two sessions to make the change from their respective positions,” he said.
“Ideally when you make a change like that you do it over the pre-season.
“But we have only lost one game out of the last six with them in the halves so I think most teams in the comp will take that.”
Meanwhile, Seibold was excited to unleash 22-year-old Perese, who will replace Rhys Kennedy on the bench.
Perese signed with Brisbane in the pre-season after playing 17 Super Rugby games for the Reds and has impressed for Queensland Cup side Redcliffe.
Veterans Alex Glenn (knee) and Matt Gillett (back) will again be sidelined.
“He leads the Queensland Cup in tackle breaks. He has some X factor about him,” Seibold said of Perese.
“Izzy has played under the bright lights of Suncorp before in the Reds jersey, now there is an opportunity for him to do it for the Broncos.”
Perese debuts for eighth-placed Brisbane in a match they must win to keep their finals hopes alive.