Anthony Seibold has admitted he was torn when offered the chance to join Manly a year ahead of schedule in the wake of Des Hasler's exit.
The former South Sydney and Brisbane coach had settled in well in England and was looking forward to helping his Aussie compatriot Eddie Jones try to go one step better at the Rugby Union 2023 World Cup in France after reaching the final in Japan.
Then the Sea Eagles parted company with Hasler, and asked him to accelerate his arrival - offering the opportunity to also reunite early with his family.
"It was a really difficult call," Seibold said on Tuesday.
"I've invested a lot of time in this group over the last 18 months and wanted to see it out until the World Cup.
"Initially, I had agreed to join Manly in 2024 but that was brought forward by 12 months due to the situation in the club.
"Sometimes in life you have to make decisions that are really difficult and this is one that I ultimately wanted to make, albeit with a lot of regret about missing the next 11 months through to the World Cup."
Jones, who gave Seibold a new lease of coaching life after his disastrous spell at the Broncos, was understanding.
"Eddie was super supportive when I told him. I first met Eddie in 2016 and we have formed a really good relationship.
"One of the attributes of Eddie - and it's probably in some ways misunderstood - is that he wants assistant coaches to go on and be head coaches.
"I'll continue to use Eddie as a mentor and share learnings with him because he's someone I've got the utmost respect for.
"It's been a wonderful experience working for Eddie, he is an elite coach. He's a master coach."
The 48-year-old Queenslander was speaking ahead of signing off his 13-month spell with England with two heavyweight assignments - the visit of New Zealand and South Africa to Twickenham.
Asked if he could take one England player with him to Brookvale Oval he nominated Sale flanker Tom Curry.
"I've always said Tom Curry would be an outstanding rugby league player. I think he's one of the world's best rugby players in either code, full-stop," Seibold said.
"I have great admiration for his toughness, work ethic and skill level. He's an outstanding player and I'm looking forward to Tom showing that against the All Blacks on Saturday."
With PA
