He's spent the past 12 years waiting for this week to come, but Anthony Seibold admits he's still nervous ahead of the first game of his NRL coaching career.
Seibold and the Rabbitohs flew to Perth on Tuesday to prepare for the Warriors, marking the beginning of a new Rabbitohs' era under the rookie coach.
"A little bit nervous, but I'm really confident in what I've done and my preparation to get here has been a long journey," Seibold said.
"I've been coaching for 12 years now as a full-time role. I'm certainly prepared.
"(I'm) probably a bit nervous leading into the first game, but that's more anticipation and am really comfortable with the preparation we've had so far."
Seibold's coaching career began in 2010 in Wales, but it wasn't until he joined Melbourne in 2013 as an assistant to Craig Bellamy that he harboured a desire to be a head coach.
It is almost the same path as his predecessor Michael Maguire.
"I spent a number of years down there, working with some great people like Craig Bellamy and Frank Ponissi and Adam O'Brien," Seibold said.
"All three of those guys made an enormous contribution to my development as a coach."
He said Queensland State of Origin coach Kevin Walters, who appointed Seibold as an assistant for the past two years, had also been crucial to his rise.
"So those four guys I'm really thankful for. They've had a lot to do with my development and give me some great opportunities to get better as a coach," he said.
"Once I got to Melbourne and worked with some of the best players in the game, I thought that if an opportunity came going forward, that I'd be really confident in doing the job."
Seibold on Tuesday made his first tough decision in his tenure when he left veteran hooker Robbie Farah out of his 17-man line-up to take on the Warriors.
Skipper Greg Inglis has been named in what will be his first NRL match since tearing his ACL early last year, while Richie Kennar, Dane Gagai and Tevita Tatola will make their club debuts.
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