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Opinion
When Wayne Bennett arrived at the Newcastle Knights in late 2011, he wanted nothing to do with the accompanying hype.
The Knights may have been installed as pre-season premiership favourites, and club owner Nathan Tinkler may have been spruiking that Bennett “will win four [titles]”, but the super coach had zero interest in fuelling the sense of anticipation that was escalating exponentially each day.
After his first media conference in Newcastle, Bennett declared “I’m not a rock star, I’m a football coach” and proceeded to dead-bat every question tossed his way in textbook fashion.
“Realistically, a premiership may not be forthcoming in the near future … we just want to build something that will provide them with long-term success,” he grumbled.
Three months later, Bennett’s worst fears were realised when Newcastle opened their new era with a golden-point loss to his former team, St George Illawarra, in front of a capacity home crowd.
He would later admit, in hindsight, that his players were “as flat as tacks” and the 29,189-strong turnout, and sense of occasion, had “choked them”.
They proceeded to limp home in 12th position, a massive anti-climax for the Novocastrian faithful, given that under former coach Rick Stone the Knights had reached the finals 12 months earlier.
But if 2012 proved that Bennett is a mere mortal and nothing in rugby league should be taken for granted, he didn’t have to wait long for redemption.
One season later, with a reinforced roster, he steered the Knights to a preliminary final, which remains their best finish to any season since the club’s 2001 premiership triumph.
It was a false dawn for Newcastle, however, and within a year Tinkler had been ousted, Bennett had bailed out to re-join Brisbane, and the Knights had again finished 12th, after a season from hell. Three consecutive wooden spoons would follow.
In the biography The Wolf You Feed, Bennett tells author Andrew Webster: “I didn’t realise what I had walked into … if I had known what it was like, I wouldn’t have gone there. Because I went there to win.”
Bennett’s roller-coaster ride at Newcastle is intriguing, because it’s about the only time in his illustrious career when he did not measure up to expectations, for whatever reason.
Wayne Bennett. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
In announcing he was leaving the Knights, Bennett even admitted he was “embarrassed” about his results, although, to be fair, in 2014 the team suffered a series of devastating, unprecedented setbacks that were outside his control.
Everywhere else, he has been overwhelmingly successful, in most cases sooner rather than later.
During his one season at Canberra in 1987, after serving an apprenticeship in the Brisbane competition and with Queensland Origin, Bennett and co-coach Don Furner steered the Raiders into a maiden grand final appearance – at the time, a remarkable effort.
He then returned home to found a dynasty at the Broncos, which kicked off with a famous win at home against reigning champions Manly and ultimately delivered six premierships in 21 seasons before he signed with St George Illawarra.
In his three seasons at the Dragons, Bennett won one premiership and probably could have done better, given that they were minor premiers in 2009-10 and placed fifth in 2011.
Nonetheless, to put his era in perspective, St George Illawarra have featured in the play-offs only twice since he left.
During his second incarnation in Brisbane, Bennett came within about 10 seconds of his eighth grand final victory, only for Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan and Kyle Feldt to conjure up a North Queensland miracle.
In Bennett’s four seasons back at the Broncos, they finished as runners-up, fifth, third and fifth, yet for reasons best known to themselves, club management sacked him after a bitter public bunfight, signing Anthony Seibold as replacement.
Bennett, of course, replaced Seibold at South Sydney, in a bizarre trading-places scenario. It’s history how that all panned out for both parties.
Benny’s Bunnies finished third, sixth and third, and his last game at the helm was their 14-12 loss to South Sydney in the 2021 decider.
Souths would presumably have preferred that the master coach had continued, but he had already signed to help build the new Dolphins franchise from scratch.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett with fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
And, once again, his results speak for themselves.
The Dolphins hit the ground running in 2023, winning their inaugural match with a 28-18 ambush of Sydney Roosters. They proceeded to post a respectable nine wins, finishing 13th, and last season improved to find themselves in a do-or-die last-round shootout, which resulted in the Knights winning to seal a berth in the play-offs.
The general consensus is that Bennett is handing the fledgling franchise over in good shape to his successor, Kristian Woolf.
And now, here we are, with the 74-year-old back at South Sydney, hoping that second time around he can channel Ivan Cleary at Penrith rather than Rick Stone at the Knights.
If there is a criticism of Bennett, it’s that he hasn’t won a grand final since he was at the Dragons in 2010. In fact, toss in 2006 with Brisbane and he has two premierships in more than two decades.
Cleary, Craig Bellamy and Trent Robinson have all been there, won that, in the interim.
Perhaps that’s the way the cookie crumbles. With an ounce of luck, Bennett could well be a nine-time premiership winner, if the grand finals of 2015 and 2021 had gone his way.
What is undeniable is that Bennett has returned to Souths with an aura that will inspire his players and a plan that they will follow.
He will presumably bring in some strategic imports in key positions. Journeymen like Michael Weyman, Neville Costigan, Jeremy Smith, Beau Scott and Tevita Pangai jnr have served him well over the years, so expect him to get the best out of some experienced warhorses.
It is unlikely to worry Bennett that Souths finished second-last last season, ahead of only hapless Wests Tigers.
Latrell Mitchell. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
With the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray, Cody Walker, Campbell Graham, Alex Johnston and Keaon Koloamatangi on his roster, he will have a quality core of proven performers at his disposal.
And he has coached most of them previously and knows what makes them tick.
Unlike when he arrived at Newcastle in late 2011, this time Wayne has no cause for reservation. He knows exactly what he’s walking into, because he’s been there before.
It would seem reasonable to assume he’s come back to win and he wouldn’t have signed up unless he felt the Rabbitohs were capable.
History tells us that when Wayne Bennett fancies his chances, it’s usually for good reason.
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