South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold has returned to work at Redfern however his move to Red Hill could be sealed in the coming days.
Seibold arrived at Rabbitohs HQ on Wednesday flanked by support staff for the first official day of the club's NRL pre-season.
But Seibold is still expected to undertake an early swap with Brisbane mentor Wayne Bennett, with Rabbitohs head of football Shane Richardson attempting to broker a deal to make the move happen for the 2019 season.
Richardson is expected to on Thursday return from the UK, where he was in talks with Bennett about bringing his 2020-21 contract forward.
Broncos management are also key with Bennett reportedly also seeking a significant payout from the Brisbane club in any further deal.
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But Seibold vowed it was business as usual on Wednesday, saying to his knowledge he'd be the Rabbitohs coach next year and insisting there was no ill feeling over his decision to sign with Brisbane from 2020.
"Just because I gave the club an answer that they're unhappy with doesn't mean that I'm dishonourable," Seibold told reporters on Wednesday.
"Until my contract is finished here, I'll coach my backside off. I think I've showed that over the last two years.
"Shane Richardson arrives back from the UK tomorrow, to my understanding, so I'll catch up with Richo.
"If they are negotiating with Wayne to come here now, it's news to me."
Seibold denied his position was untenable and said he was preparing as if he would be in charge of the cardinal and myrtle next year.
"I've planned a really detailed program for pre-season," Seibold said.
"Until I'm told otherwise, I'm working really hard and I'm going to coach the Bunnies as hard as I can."
While Seibold and his coaching staff went back to work on Wednesday, the Rabbitohs players are not due back to training until next week.
Seibold rubbished suggestions the squad had turned on him after his decision to move to the Broncos, pointing to conversations and texts he'd shared with players over the last week.
"I had a really great evening at Damien Cook's wedding on Friday night. I got some really lovely text and phone calls from the players over the last week," Seibold said.
"They're disappointed I'm going to move on in 2020 but they understand my reasons for wanting to go home. I have a great relationship with the players.
"One of the things I did (in the past year) was develop good relationships with the players.
"The players were coming off the back of not-such-a-great season. I did a lot of work in and around relationships."
