THE incredible NRL coaching carousel has just about ground to a halt.

So who are the winners and where to next for those who missed out?

These are the five burning questions.

Will Bennett and Seibold swap clubs for 2019?
Despite Bennett signing a two-year deal with South Sydney from 2020, many still expect both he and Seibold will swap clubs immediately.

Seibold to Brisbane is likely to be confirmed next Tuesday after a board meeting, with the club’s coaching selection panel of CEO Paul White, chairman Karl Morris and director Darren Lockyer making him their No.1 man in a field that also included Michael Maguire, Kevin Walters and Jason Demetriou.

An immediate swap might seem like the logical move for all parties involved, but Bennett is adamant he’ll see out his contract at the Broncos.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m at the Broncos in 2019 and Seibold will be at South Sydney,” Bennett told the Courier Mail.

“Whether the Broncos make any moves, I don’t know.”

Indeed if the Broncos do make a move, it’ll mean sacking Bennett and having to pay him out, a stance that the super coach held throughout his contract talks with the club.

The Rabbitohs have said they’ll take a “wait and see” approach to the situation, with head of football Shane Richardson holding no ill feeling towards Seibold and his decision.

“‘Seibs’ has got a contract in place and I haven’t fallen out with Seibs and he hasn’t fallen out with me,” Richardson told Channel 9.

“We could work quite easily together in ‘19. We’ll just wait to see how it all unfolds.”

Could there be player movements?
Let’s get this one out of the way first: Darius Boyd won’t be following Bennett to the Rabbitohs.

The 31-year-old is on contract at the Broncos until the end of 2021 and stated back in May he won’t be leaving and giving up his captaincy.

“Yeah mate, I’m almost done anyway,” Boyd said when asked if he would stay at the Broncos if Bennett moved on.

“I love the Broncos and I’ll definitely be staying.”

Tevita Pangai Jnr could be a different story, however.

The powerhouse backrower has agreed to a one-year deal at the Broncos. He also has a close bond with Bennett which could see him leave Red Hill in 2020.

The Rabbitohs currently don’t have a starting back row locked in for 2019, with Angus Crichton off to the Roosters and John Sutton unsigned.

Assuming Sutton re-signs for one more year before retiring, it leaves Souths in the box seat to make a move on Pangai Jnr.

Matt Lodge and Corey Oates are two other players yet to officially re-sign with the Broncos.

Bennett said whether or not players follow him will be entirely up to them.

“They’re all big boys and have grown up, they’ll have to make their own decisions with what they want to do,” he said from England.

On the flip side, the Rabbitohs have a host of players off contract at the end of next season, including Damien Cook, the Burgess twins, Cameron Murray, Kyle Turner and Campbell Graham.

No doubt Bennett will be having a say in their futures.

Elsewhere, rumours that Martin Taupau will leave Manly won’t go away.

The powerhouse forward is on big money at the Sea Eagles and it’s been reported throughout the year that the club were looking to offload him to ease salary cap pressure.

On contract until 2020, Taupau is set to link up again with Hasler, the man who punted him at Canterbury before he went on to become a New Zealand international.

Whether or not there’s any residual animosity remains to be seen.

Where to for Walters and Demetriou?
The Broncos’ decision to go for Seibold was another kick in the crotch for Walters who has long desired to coach the beloved team he played 12 seasons with.

It’s now the third rejection for Walters who also missed out on top jobs at both North Queensland and Wests Tigers.

One gig he still has is Queensland’s head coach and he’ll remain as such until at least the end of 2020.

Perhaps more a more curious case is what happens with Demetriou.

It would no doubt be an awkward scenario if he were to remain at Brisbane as an assistant to the man he lost out to.

Many pundits believe Demetriou is more than qualified to take over an NRL head coaching role and his impressive record in the lower grades, along with testimonials from players, suggests as much.

He could conceivably following Bennett to South Sydney where he’d be groomed to take over as head coach from 2022.

Whether or not he wants to wait that long is another question, but the Rabbitohs are a club that don’t mind taking a punt on a first-time NRL coach.

At Penrith, Cameron Ciraldo could also be seen to be a loser out of the coaching shuffle after taking over the top job following Anthony Griffin’s sacking, but the club are adamant he’s going nowhere.

“Cameron Ciraldo will be with us for as long as we can keep him. He’s very talented,” Panthers supremo Phil Gould posted on Twitter.

Why is Cleary joining Penrith on such a long-term deal?
Cleary was contracted to the Wests Tigers for the next two seasons, but his situation at the club became untenable after originally agreeing to join the Panthers from 2021 to 2023.

The Panthers are yet to officially announce the return of Cleary, but it’s understood the deal will be for five years which includes the additional two.

His son Nathan is on contract until the end of 2024, so Cleary’s deal will allow them to work together for the majority of that period and possibly beyond.

The Panthers no doubt wanted stability around their coach and key playmaker, and this move is a way to ensure that.

But given the way Cleary departed the club last time after Phil Gould labelled him “tired”, you never know what will happen — five days in rugby league is a long time, let alone five years.

The Panthers have talent busting from the seams and the pressure will be on Cleary to deliver them a title.

Who gets the best deal out of the coaching merry-go-round?
You can look at this from a short or long-term point of view.

Bennett’s signed on for two seasons at the Rabbitohs, so he’ll little time to shape the roster and get the results, but he does have a relationship with a number of the players through representative level.

He managed to take St George Illawarra to a title in just his second season, and Rabbitohs fans will be hoping he can do the same.

But judging on the talent Souths have at their disposal, and how close they got to this year’s grand final — not to mention the quality of players Bennett can attract — there’s no reason why they can’t go all the way during his tenure.

In what shape Bennett leaves the Rabbitohs will also be crucial.

Seibold’s deal with the Broncos is reportedly anywhere between three to five years, so it’s evident the club are looking to invest in the future — their psychometric testing of the candidates says as much!

In Seibold, they get the current Dally M coach of the year who’s a smart operator and already has ties to a number of the players through his time in the Maroons coaching set-up.

It is still somewhat of a gamble considering he’s coached just one NRL season, albeit impressively.

Maguire joins the Tigers with runs on the board and still a big future ahead of him.

He transformed the Rabbitohs into a competition powerhouse before guiding them to the 2014 premiership.

While he got sacked after a two poor seasons where the club failed to make the finals, he still boasts a 55.8 win percentage.

His impact on the Kiwis’ Test side has been noticeable, with the side recently knocking off the Kangaroos. He’ll retain that role alongside his Tigers duties.

His relationship with a number of the Kiwi stars could also come in handy when trying to build up his squad. Hello, Shaun Johnson.

The Panthers are very much also looking long-term with Cleary’s reported five-year deal.

One positive in getting Cleary is that the club didn’t have to pay the Tigers any financial compensation after he was released from the final two years of his contract.

The other is that he gets to work with his son Nathan, which is one that continue for a long time to come.

Cleary also knows the Panthers system, so settling back in shouldn’t take too much time.

During his last stint at the club, he managed to guide the club to the finals once in four years — a preliminary final in 2014.

The club have now made three consecutive semi finals but failed to progress, so now the pressure is very much on their returning coach to take them those couple of steps further.