With as many as eight or nine head coaching jobs opening up in the next couple of years, potentially more, the NRL ranks are about to get a long overdue injection of fresh blood. 

Anthony Seibold appears to be on the shakiest ground of the current coaching brigade with Manly set to end his tenure sooner rather than later if he can’t get them firing in the next few weeks.

The Cowboys could be getting itchy trigger fingers in the near future as well after Todd Payten’s team conceded an even 100 points in their past two thrashings as part of a seven-week stretch which has included just one win.

Des Hasler’s turbulent stint at the Gold Coast could also end abruptly as they sit at the bottom of the ladder and the Titans execs are sitting on built-in clauses in his contract to allow them to punt him without coughing up a pay-out if they don’t make the finals.

It’s hard to see them winning nine of their remaining 10 matches to make that pipe dream a reality. 

And then there’s Adam O’Brien’s ongoing battle to cling to power in Newcastle with his team treading water in 13th spot while possessing the worst attacking output by far in the NRL.

The ARL Commission and newly installed CEO Anthony De Ceglie have gone back to the distant future in selecting Mal Meninga to be their inaugural coach but have attached Ben Gardiner as his assistant to become his successor in 2029 for their third season, following the transition plan the Dolphins employed with Wayne Bennett and Kristian Woolf.

But there will also be a PNG gig up for grabs soon, if Bennett doesn’t add a third expansion team to his resume when he departs South Sydney at the end of 2027, while the St George Illawarra, Wests Tigers and Brisbane jobs are hardly set in stone long term and Craig Bellamy will surely one day make good on his long-running threat to vacate his regal Victorian throne.

Even their club is comfortable with their current coach, CEOs and boardrooms should already be doing their due diligence on a Plan B.

The candidates fall into the two usual categories – coaches champing at the bit for their first full-time NRL appointment in the main role or recycled mentors looking for another chance after their previous stint turned sour.

There are fewer recently dumped coaches on the market with a realistic chance of getting a start – mainly because clubs have been recycling plenty of old names in the past few seasons rather than take a gamble on a rookie.

Shane Flanagan, Hasler, Michael Maguire and Bennett have got the nod over inexperienced rivals with mixed results. 

The Sea Eagles are reportedly open to taking a punt on someone with no head coaching experience in Michael Ennis if Seibold can’t salvage their season. 

While he is not everybody’s cup of tea as a Fox League commentator, Ennis has all the tools to potentially make it as an NRL coach. 

He was a pragmatic player as a hooker over the course of 13 seasons in the NRL who relied more on his on-field savvy than athletic prowess, learning from the likes of Bennett, Hasler and Flanagan along the way.

Ennis has dipped his toe into the coaching waters with consultancy gigs at Canberra, Cronulla and Parramatta before joining Seibold’s staff at the start of last season to focus on improving their halves and hookers, attack and end of set tactics.

Anthony Seibold and Michael Ennis during a Manly Sea Eagles training session. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Josh Hannay is the other name considered to be a frontrunner for a coaching call-up if the axe falls at his old club, North Queensland.

Hannay lost out to Payten when the Cowboys appointed a permanent replacement for Paul Green after his mid-season exit in 2020.

Taking over a team in turmoil, Hannay won just two of 10 matches as caretaker coach that season but Payten’s stocks were higher after he had greater success in a similarly tricky situation at the Warriors after Stephen Kearney’s departure. 

Hannay is in the rare position of having 30 NRL games on his resume from interim stints at the Cowboys and Cronulla.

He has leapt to the front of the queue due to his work as Craig Fitzgibbon’s 2IC at the Sharks but mainly as the tactician behind the scenes who has contributed to Billy Slater’s impressive start to his coaching career with Queensland.

Dean Young is another assistant coach who has ties to North Queensland after serving under Payten before returning to St George Illawarra. 

Slater is the wild card in the pack after winning two out of three Origin series with the Maroons but has repeatedly said he is not interested in a club role as yet. 

Josh Hannay. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Kevin Walters is expected to throw his hat into the ring for any upcoming vacancies after declaring his interest in the Perth appointment, along with Brad Arthur, before Meninga was anointed.

Former Rabbitohs and Dragons halfback Willie Peters is emerging as a dark horse despite not having the highest profile after his stellar work in the Super League over the past three seasons with Hull KR.

Twelve years ago the Roosters rolled the coaching dice on an ex-journeyman player who had done the hard yards in the Super League and the Trent Robinson hire turned out to be one of the wisest decisions chairman Nick Politis has made during his 30-plus years in charge.

A bigger name in the UK who is also doing an apprenticeship in the hope it will lead to an NRL call-up is Sam Burgess. 

After a strong first year at the Warrington helm, the Wolves have been in the middle of the pack during his second season. 

Some NRL clubs could be nervous hiring someone like Burgess as their head coach as his chequered off-field history could outweigh the uncompromising style he would seek to instill into a team.

Souths, where he still has strong connections, appear to be his best bet of getting a start in the NRL if Bennett does not stick around after his contract ends in 2027.

Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly recently said it was not a fait accompli that Bennett would be parachuted into Port Moresby (not literally) to start up the PNG expansion franchise and that the club was open to the record-breaking mentor extending his tenure at Redfern even further.

With the way the 2025 season is panning out for more than a few clubs, the first coaching domino may not be that far away from falling and then the flow-on effect could be hectic. 

But of course this is all just speculation at the moment because all 17 coaches have the full support of the board and there can be no safer guarantee than that.