Rabbitohs hard man Sam Burgess admits the players were none the wiser who their coach was was going to be next season, as the coaching saga unfolded.

On Friday Anthony Seibold was the Rabbitohs coach, but by Monday Wayne Bennett took over the top job at Redfern and the players were left in the dark throughout.

Burgess didn’t even get the chance to farewell Seibold, before his departure to Brisbane over the weekend.

“I haven’t had the chance to say goodbye,” Burgess admitted.

“There was a meeting on Friday, but I had left by then.

“I wasn’t sure if it was goodbye or not, so genuinely I don’t think that anybody knew what was going on.

“We have had an off-season and Damien Cook’s wedding, so we had a chat to Seibold there.

“It is a business we understand that and it moves quickly and as players we have to move on quickly.

“Sometimes if you have too much emotion you get attached and you have got to learn to let go quickly.”

Seibold began his coaching tenure at the Broncos on Monday with Bennett to take over at the Rabbitohs and Burgess admitted the coaching saga had taken a toll on the players.

“It’s been a bit of a yoyo and it is probably the first time in my career I haven’t known what was going on,” Burgess said.

“Generally I have a pretty good hold on things, but I had no idea, so it was completely out of my control as a senior player.

“For us senior players all we could do was be calm around the squad and we have smiled and joked about it and trained hard and come together as a team.

“Now we know where we are at and we know that we have Wayne and we can move forward, but it has certainly been up and down the last few weeks.”

While many experts have been critical of Seibold’s conduct throughout the coaching saga, Burgess backed his old coach’s decision.

“I am a player and I have made decisions in my career for myself and my family at the time, so I’m sure he has his own reasons,” Burgess said.

“I respect Seibs (Seibold) and I respect his family and I can’t say I’m dirty because I have been in that position before and made the same decisions myself.

“It is a business at the end of the day and we will move on. As of today we have got Wayne Bennett and Seibold is not my coach, so we will move on.”

What remains uncertain however is the future of a number of players from both clubs, who could choose to follow their coaches or move on to other opportunities.

Alex Johnston and Robert Jennings have been linked to possible moves away from Redfern, as Bennett begins to shape his own roster at South Sydney.

Johnston has reportedly been told by Bennett that he sees him as a winger, which could force him out of the club, as he has maintained a stern desire to play fullback.

“It is hard to comment because I am good friends with both players and I think they are very valuable members of the squad,” Burgess said.

“But it is completely out of my control and there are a lot of rumours going on and I don’t know what to believe.

“Alex is a Souths junior and Robert is one of our best players, so I’m sure Wayne is all over it now and him and his staff will do their best to keep the best squad together.

“We need the best 17 and the best squad of players that we can get.”