finishing 3rd on the table at the end of the regular season. In week one of the finals, South Sydney played against Melbourne and looked to have secured the victory until a late try and a field goal gave Melbourne the win 29–28. In week two, South Sydney played against St George for the first time in the finals series since 1984. Souths won the match 13-12 thanks to three field goals from Adam Reynolds including one in the final minute of the match. In the preliminary final, Souths faced off against arch rivals Eastern Suburbs in what would also be the last match played at the Sydney Football Stadium. In front of a ground record crowd of 44,380, Souths were defeated 12–4. After the conclusion of the 2018 season, both Wayne Bennett and Seibold were rumored to be switching clubs for the 2019 season. In November 2018, Seibold angrily spoke to the media about a possible switch with Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett. He went on to say "I have had a gutful. I’ve been sitting here for four weeks and feeling like a punching bag. It's not acceptable and it's not fair ... He's (Wayne Bennett) been ringing up the Souths boys but then tells his press conference he hasn't spoken to anyone. That's absolute bullshit ... I'm sick of Wayne carrying on. On 2 December 2018, Seibold was announced as the new Brisbane Broncos coach from 2019 onwards a year earlier than expected after Wayne Bennett was sacked as coach. Bennett was then named as new South Sydney head coach. 2019 South Sydney started the 2019 NRL season strongly with the club winning 10 of their first 11 matches. Following the 2019 State of Origin series, Souths suffered a slump in form losing 4 games in a row. The club then recovered towards the end of the regular season winning 3 games in a row to finish in 3rd place on the table and qualified for the finals series. South Sydney would go on to lose their qualifying final against their arch rivals the Sydney Roosters 30–6 in week one of the 2019 finals series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the elimination final against Manly-Warringah, Souths won a hard-fought match 34–26 at ANZ Stadium to reach their second consecutive preliminary final. In the preliminary final against Canberra, Souths would go on to fall short of a grand