NEWS Wayne Bennett hits Brisbane Broncos with $400k claim

[Gaz]

Did they actually do anything wrong in all of this?

My understanding is WB went to PW and suggested he formulate a contingency plan and it only went pear shaped when he found out his coaching wasn't apart of the plan.

 

[big k]

You can do what you like, but no, I'm not going to hate on Bennett because News LTD reckons I should.

Nobody hates on Bennett because News reckons we should, those that Hate on Bennett are pissed with how he did the one thing he has torn others down for and the one thing he said he would never do... made himself out to be bigger than the club. Bennett played alot of people in this, and he still has some dancing to his jig. His game backfired and it cost him dearly, because not only did he have his contract torn up ( i feel this was his whole plan to get a massive payout ), it cost him alot of money, any player talked about as following him have come out and said they ain't going anywhere and the respect many have had for him has been seriously watered down or lost completely. It's got nothing to do with News and everything to do with his actions. **** him let him rot at the rabbitohs. It'll be interesting to see how many former Bronco greats start j jumping back on board. Hell has Tallis said a bad word since he left that was aimed at the Broncos?

 

[Dash]

Apparently what they should have done was just wait until Bennett has had enough of coaching and then pick up whatever scrub coach was available at the time.

This. White and the board didn't balls anything up. They made their decision and went about (successfully) securing our new coach. Bennett was clearly never going to be happy with that decision and went about making his displeasure known to anyone who would stick a microphone in front of his face.
The ONLY way this situation could have gone smoothly was exactly as you say.

To me, only one of those scenarios would be the actions of shitty management, and it wasn't the one that White and the board chose.

 

[Kimlo]

My only real issue with the CEO/board is that once they decided they didn't want Bennett, they should have immediately paid out his final year and moved on cleanly.

I hate to use Penrith as an example of anything good, but once they decided Griffin was done, they paid him out and moved on. Now I certainly don't think he should have been sacked mid-season, but once the decision has been made to move on, do it properly.

It seems like they went through all the motions with no real conviction and just hoped the cards would fall into place somehow. That's not really decisive leadership.

 

[lynx000]

What % the lawyers will take from any settlement will have been the first thing discussed. What more do they have fill him on until there is an offer on the table or until it goes to trial? He will have given the lawyers his side of the story and any proof in the way of documents, emails, secretly recorded conversations, smoke signals or whatever and then, according to media reports, the lawyers said "You have got a solid case. We will take it on and take **% of the final settlement. Do we have a deal?" And Bennett said "Deal! I will leave it with you. Please keep me filled in on how things are going."

What else is there to discuss?

Uhm, wrong again, lawyers in Australia are not allowed to take a percentage of any judgment. There is a fee agreement signed prior to any steps being taken which set out the scale at which they charge and an estimate of the total costs to be incurred. If that changes throughout the matter they have to update the agreement.

 

[Gaz]

My only real issue with the CEO/board is that once they decided they didn't want Bennett, they should have immediately paid out his final year and moved on cleanly.

I hate to use Penrith as an example of anything good, but once they decided Griffin was done, they paid him out and moved on. Now I certainly don't think he should have been sacked mid-season, but once the decision has been made to move on, do it properly.

It seems like they went through all the motions with no real conviction and just hoped the cards would fall into place somehow. That's not really decisive leadership.

Nobody, including WB, would want to be treated the way Gus and the Panthers treated Hook.

 

[lynx000]

Where this is at, at the moment from my understanding is that WB's solicitor has sent a letter of demand to the Broncos. So no action has been commenced at this stage. The Broncos have asked for, and been granted an extension of time to respond.

This whole thing may go no further. Once his solicitors receive the Bronco's response, if the Broncos set out in chapter and verse what they have available to them in terms of evidence to support the termination, his solicitors might advise him that there is a risk to pursue it.

Final observation, nobody should be criticised for pursuing a legal remedy if they feel that they have been wronged. That is what the system is there for. The reality is that other than the lawyers, it is probably in no one's best interests, Broncos, WB or Souths for this to go to a hearing.

 

[Huge]

It actually did take a toll on the players, they admitted to that. There is only so long you can ignore such a thing until it starts to affect you. And my concern is it happening again to our group of players.

This needs to end quickly and peacefully whether that's the Broncos just paying him or Bennett dropping it. But for both parties sakes, it can't turn into another media shit storm.

Really? You think an argument over monies owed in a contractual arrangement between the Souths coach and the Bronco's management will keep the players awake at night? Really? Rrriiiigggghhhttttt! Ha ha

 

[Eta Carinae]

Uhm, wrong again, lawyers in Australia are not allowed to take a percentage of any judgment. There is a fee agreement signed prior to any steps being taken which set out the scale at which they charge and an estimate of the total costs to be incurred. If that changes throughout the matter they have to update the agreement.

I think you are wrong but I really don't know. I know what I described is practiced in all other Western countries (though as far as I know, a retainer is needed on a country by country basis.) so very much doubt it's different in Australia.
Regardless, I can't see how this should or will effect either team.

 

[Eta Carinae]

Nobody hates on Bennett because News reckons we should, those that Hate on Bennett are pissed with how he did the one thing he has torn others down for and the one thing he said he would never do... made himself out to be bigger than the club. Bennett played alot of people in this, and he still has some dancing to his jig. His game backfired and it cost him dearly, because not only did he have his contract torn up ( i feel this was his whole plan to get a massive payout ), it cost him alot of money, any player talked about as following him have come out and said they ain't going anywhere and the respect many have had for him has been seriously watered down or lost completely. It's got nothing to do with News and everything to do with his actions. **** him let him rot at the rabbitohs. It'll be interesting to see how many former Bronco greats start j jumping back on board. Hell has Tallis said a bad word since he left that was aimed at the Broncos?

I don't hate him. I just couldn't stand how so many on this forum displayed such blind loyalty to him because I think he stayed a year too long. Now he is behaving like a bitter old man.

 

[lynx000]

I think you are wrong but I really don't know. I know what I described is practiced in all other Western countries (though as far as I know, a retainer is needed on a country by country basis.) so very much doubt it's different in Australia.
Regardless, I can't see how this should or will effect either team.

You can take it as read, I am not wrong, you can either accept that or remain ignorant of the reality.

 

[Huge]

I don't hate him. I just couldn't stand how so many on this forum displayed such blind loyalty to him because I think he stayed a year too long. Now he is behaving like a bitter old man.

Or he is behaving like a bitter man. Why the big focus on his age? What it shows is the **** headed notion that because you're older (or old if you want) you are somehow less capable or less relevant. If you've been wronged or felt wronged you are entitled to fight it irrespective of age. 18 or 80 makes no difference.

You should be so lucky that people would stand up for you, truth is 10,000 would probably march for WB while you probably couldn't raise 10 especially if family were excluded.

 

[Kimlo]

I don't hate him. I just couldn't stand how so many on this forum displayed such blind loyalty to him because I think he stayed a year too long. Now he is behaving like a bitter old man.

Who is really displaying blind loyalty? I think most have acknowledged the shenanigans are two-sided.

Sure some people, like me, appreciate WB for his achievements & efforts that moulded our club into the most successful sporting brand in Australia. There is no doubt he has played a huge part in our history, and out of 3 coaches, we have only ever been consistently competitive under his watch. There's also the small matter that he was our foundation coach, and our only premiership winning coach. For fans of greater rugby league in general, there's no denying he has been one of the best coaches for the development of the International game too, most other good coaches are selfish, just look at Bellamy.

Just because the board sacked him a year early, and he played a part in the rubbish drama, it doesn't mean we all have to think he's some worthless scrub now. He's arguably the most influential Bronco in history, or at the very least in the top 3.

Yes he behaved badly in the last 6 months, so did the club, so did the board, so did the CEO. We'll never know the truth, so to blindly call him a bitter old man when we truly don't know what happened behind the scenes is short sighted. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, I'm not really interested in taking sides.

I'm a Broncos fan first and foremost, WB has earned a lot of respect for his part of our history, and now that the board has made the decision it has, I am fully behind Seibold and want us to be holding a premiership trophy under his tenure. Just because I support the board making the decision and am excited for Seibold to coach us next year, it doesn't mean I have to diminish in any way what WB has brought to the club. He has also left the club in incredible shape, our roster is the most exciting it's been in a very long time.

Believe it or not, there is room to respect WB and to still be excited for the change of direction.

 

[ningnangnong]

**** tha po-leese

 

[Jason Simmons]

Well obviously, but they terminated the contract so the burden is on them to prove it, not the other way around. Does him speaking to Ash Taylor count? Or any other player he keeps up with regularly from opposition teams?

The plaintiff in legal proceedings has the burden of proof. Not the defendant...

 

[Huge]

It would seem to me that the Bronco's should need to prove that WB broke the agreement and that they were just and reasonable with the sacking. I understand that from reports WB is bringing the action but surely they'd need to prove he'd sinned. I suppose both sides will need to prove something.

I'm pretty sure that after WB got down South someone came forward and mentioned that he/she had been in contact with the Bronco's and they'd actively been working with Souths to move WB while he still had a contract for 2019. What if WBs pronouncement about staying was a masterstroke and we only learn of the cleverness later? It does seem as though the Bronco's wanted their cake and still wanted to eat it at the same time.

 

[Harry Sack]

**** tha po-leese

Ningers nudes in 3.....2......1

 

[Porthoz]

Oh look, it's another WB vs Broncos fight, how novel.