The Wayne Bennett Super thread!

[Harry Sack]

Re: Brisbane Broncos scrap co-captains

and i just don't get it ... surely i'm not the only one that thinks that way. I'll just have to hold out hope that either the NRL actually do the right thing for once and refuse to register a contract for him OR either Cleary or Stone get their man and he goes to one of their clubs

BTW, what was the actual point of the PC. was it just to say that he is only going to have one captain and he wants to bring Boyd and Packer to the club, or was there more to it?

Nope, I just couldn't be bothered arguing with people about it. I don't want the **** at the Broncos, that simple.

 

[vertigo]

Well if Bennett is going to play Boyd at fullback that just tells me he doesn't think both Milford's lack of experience and defence can cut it throughout an entire season.

“Some of it (aura) has probably left the place a little bit but once the team plays to its potential it will come back,”

Pretty damning observation of Griffin's legacy.

 

[vertigo]

My mum just called me to tell me she walked past Benny on the new riverwalk haha.

Man of the people.

 

[subsbligh]

“No. There won’t be co-captains,” Bennett said.

Say goodbye to the captain's armband Hodgo.

 

[Brett]

Just read another article where Kevin Walters was saying he can't wait to work with Hunt, Barba and Milford, so who knows what's going to happen...

 

[subsbligh]

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that player's meeting. Sounds like Bennett put everyone on notice.

It goes two ways from here. We win a premiership in the next 3 years and Kevin Walters is groomed as new head coach.

Or it completely falls apart, Wayne says "**** it, I'm too old for this shit", Hunt and McCullough leave, Milford becomes the next Brett Seymour and Russell Packer is in our front row.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

 

[Brett]

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that player's meeting. Sounds like Bennett put everyone on notice.

It goes two ways from here. We win a premiership in the next 3 years and Kevin Walters is groomed as new head coach.

Or it completely falls apart, Wayne says "**** it, I'm too old for this shit", Hunt and McCullough leave, Milford becomes the next Brett Seymour and Russell Packer is in our front row.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

It's gonna be a long off season for some. :laugh:

 

[Bucking Beads]

Bennett is a joke. The club doesn't need another fullback and the club most certainly doesn't need a fat criminal who is criminally overrated. There is no logic to signing Boyd other than he wants his dick sucked by him. Also how does the club justify signing a criminal like Packer but turning down Josh Dugan last year?

 

[Rabbir]

Bennett is a joke. The club doesn't need another fullback and the club most certainly doesn't need a fat criminal who is criminally overrated. There is no logic to signing Boyd other than he wants his dick sucked by him. Also how does the club justify signing a criminal like Packer but turning down Josh Dugan last year?

Let's wait until they

a) sign both players
b) watch them play 6-8 NRL games at a new club

before we fly off the wall.

Going to be a blood bath around here over the offseason.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Let's wait until they

a) sign both players
b) watch them play 6-8 NRL games at a new club

before we fly off the wall.

Going to be a blood bath around here over the offseason.

if we sign either player it is a joke. The fact that he wants to sign them is enough of a joke. Bloody old geriatric coach.

 

[Cult]

Bennett is a joke. The club doesn't need another fullback and the club most certainly doesn't need a fat criminal who is criminally overrated. There is no logic to signing Boyd other than he wants his dick sucked by him. Also how does the club justify signing a criminal like Packer but turning down Josh Dugan last year?

Dugan was told not to do anything else wrong, he did. I'm sure Packer will be told not to as well if he is signed. And before anyone bites my head off or tells me I lack morals (Wouldn't be the first time around here) I don't want Packer. But looking from both angles is something a few people on here need to start doing.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Wayne will get his own way and I'll just have to live with it. Wayne knows best of course. Even the local media has become Bennett yes men which is disappointing.

 

[Cult]

but if you add everything Carney has done with everything Dugan has done and multiply it by ten ... it still doesn't equal what Packer has done.

hopefully the NRL will do the right thing and refuse to register a contract for Packer .... not holding out much hope of the NRL doing the right thing though.

I mean if they didn't register and contract (for 12 months) for Carney after he was sacked from the Raiders, and have said they would be unlikely to register a contract for Carney ever again after his Sharks sacking, how could they possibly register one for Packer. but we all know what the SOPs are for the NRL administration are. (i.e be as inconsistent as humanly possible, be hypocrites, be amateurish).

the other hope i have and I think it is more likely, is that Cleary really wants Packer, and is as good a negotiator as he is coach, and can convince Packer to go to the Panthers

To be fair, Carney probably could have killed a few people whilst on that drunken car chase.. But yes, hopefully the Panthers sign him and have to get rid of Nigel Plum and we sign him instead.

 

[mitch222]

I think Wayne only really wants Packer because we need a decent size front rower on the cheap side and the cupboards are pretty bare atm on the market.

 

[Big Pete]

Have you moved back to Brisbane full-time?
Not quite. I have to go back to Newcastle for the presentation night ... and then I’m done.

Why did you agree to return to the Broncos?
Well, I want to make a point of this if I can — about the Broncos and what they mean to Queensland. I know there’s the Cowboys and the Titans and they mean something and they have their supporters, which is great.

But the Broncos brand ... wherever I have gone in Queensland in the six years I’ve been away, even in NSW, it just fascinates me the amount of Broncos fans and how powerful the club is. The value of the Broncos to the state in an economic way as well as an emotional way — there is a responsibility that I get.

The original directors, including (Paul) ‘Porky’ Morgan, wanted us to be named the Queensland Broncos but that wasn’t going to happen. But they have sold the brand to the state and from a financial and welfare point of view. The Broncos mean so much to so many people. I take the Broncos job with such great responsibility because there is a special gravitas to this club. I know that more than anybody now.

They average more than 30,000 to a game; the NRL average is 15,000. I remember Cyril Connell (the late Broncos scout) would bring players to us and I knew some couldn’t play, but some were in a tough place, had no money, and we’d give them jobs, give them a life through football.

There were times at the Broncos we felt like a welfare club. A lot of Queenslanders rely on the Broncos. We are more than a football club. The players have always recognised that too. That’s a big reason why I’m back.

There were reports you were close to joining the Dragons. Did the Broncos almost miss their man?
I won’t nominate the club but, yes, I had a chance to go somewhere else.

How close were you to going elsewhere?
(Pauses) I was 12 hours away. Right on 12 hours. That close. Actually, I had an appointment the following morning to sign off (with the rival club) and I got a phone call 12 hours the night before just before bed.

I hadn’t signed anything with the other club but I intimated I was ready to take the job. We just had to finalise a couple of things. I got three offers on the open market. Then the Broncos arrived at the 23rd hour.

Was the phone call from Lachlan Murdoch?
There was a phone call from someone at the Broncos telling me that there was an opportunity for me if I wanted to take it. It put me under a lot of pressure. I knew what I wanted to do, but I would have been happy coaching the other place, too.

I had another 24 to 36 hours putting it all together. I only signed my Broncos deal about a week ago, we didn’t negotiate one cent when I accepted it. The money or the contract wasn’t an issue. I wasn’t coming back for money, I was coming because I wanted to be here so I knew the rest would work itself out. I love the club.

The opportunity was there, it wasn’t something I sought but they made a decision and I wanted to be the Broncos coach again. It’s been the great love of my life in rugby league. I’ve given 21 years here and made sacrifices and I’m happy to make them all over again.

You described Alex McKinnon (Knights forward who broke his neck this year) as being like a son. How hard was it to say goodbye to him?
I haven’t said goodbye to Alex, I will never say goodbye to Alex, OK. That’s not an issue for me. I did ring him but he understood and he was happy for me and wanted me to do it. I will never forget Alex McKinnon. He’s been handed a hell of a challenge, but he’s been remarkable.

Can you describe how it feels to be back at the club you led to six titles?
I don’t feel any ghosts, just lots of memories. Not a great deal has changed, the leagues club has changed a bit, but all the photos up on the wall, I’ve seen them all before. I’m a different coach to what I was six years ago, so I didn’t feel like I was getting into old slippers. I just went in there with a clear mind about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.

In your heart, did you feel you would ever come back?
I left the Broncos because I didn’t like the way things were being done. I was never guaranteed to come back so my view was if that’s the way they want to run it, good luck to them, if it’s a great success for them, I’m happy for them, that’s the risk you take. I got on with my life, I was pleased about that, and I let them get on with theirs.

What were some of the things that concerned you?
I haven’t talked about it publicly and I haven’t even done so privately. I’m not going to do it today. My first time here was over, I’ve moved on from that, it’s a long time ago for me now. It’s just nice to be back.

For six years you were on the outside looking in. What did you see in the Broncos?
I saw a lot of the things we’d created that were still there. They always played well against teams I coached, I know that much. They were always wanting to prove something to me. I saw a lot of the qualities I’d always seen still there. Things like always playing well, trying hard, never easy to beat. Not being pushovers.

It’s something I don’t have to worry about trying to recreate or get back. It’s there. It’s always been there, it’s one legacy the foundation players have left, if you play for the Broncos, you are expected to do your best most weeks.

Do you believe you have inherited a team capable of winning the premiership?
When we won a premiership at the Dragons in 2010, we won it not because of what we had, we won it because we wanted something bad enough. If this team wants something bad enough next year, then they will be a hell of a lot better than the team sitting around wondering what they could have done.

We may not have the perfect players in key positions, but if they care and compete we can do something. Penrith are a good example this year, they are having a go for each other and trying really hard. It’s not a complex formula, we are short of a few players in a few positions but that will take time, it’s not a reason not to do your best.

Have the Broncos lost their aura?
I won’t criticise what has gone on here the last five or six years, it’s a worthless exercise. I have an opportunity to get it right here and that’s what I intend to do.

Whether we have lost the aura, it doesn’t matter, if we start winning footy games and get everybody to buy in, the aura will be back that quickly it won’t matter. I won a premiership at Souths (Brisbane) in 1985 and the same principles can work in 2015. I have no doubt.

Why are you a better coach now to the Wayne Bennett who left?
Because I’ve learned to survive without resources, I’ve been to two different clubs who didn’t have what Brisbane have. Being away from home for six years challenged me in other ways. I certainly come back wiser.

I know what I want, I won’t come back with any lack of confidence, I won’t come back thinking there is a new way to coach. In the long journey, there’s been times when I doubted myself but I don’t lack it now.

I know what works. I know why it works and I want a group of men who want to make it work. There was some silly myth that I was going to Sydney to prove myself. I never went to Sydney to prove myself to anybody. I was out of a job, I wanted to coach still and I thought I had something to offer. It was that simple.

You’ve talked before about Broncos players willing to pay the price to win premierships.
That’s right, exactly. I know what that price is and I have to get the players to buy into whether they want to pay that price. If I find that’s not the case with some of them, I will look at why that is.

I have a lot of staff there that know that price as well. Steve Kearney and Kevin Walters are winners, so is Alex Corvo and Jeremy Hickmans (conditioners) ... they know the price to pay and that’s what they will drive.

You mention Kevin, has time healed wounds after you let him go in 2005?
He was bitter at the time but that’s OK, I understood that at the time. That was never something I didn’t expect, but again I stuck to my word. I told him to go away and better himself. I said Kevvie, you need to get away from me and learn.

He’s done that, he’s coached in France, Melbourne and Ipswich, he’s done his due diligence and I’m elated to have him back. He’s a wonderful bloke, we are great friends but more importantly he has the passion for this job. He’s a winner and that’s what we want at this club.

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[I bleed Maroon]

Comparing us to Penrith is a bit pointless, we have a lot more talent across the park than they do, so if they finished 4th this year, we should finish 1st or 2nd next year.

 

[vertigo]

That’s right, exactly. I know what that price is and I have to get the players to buy into whether they want to pay that price. If I find that’s not the case with some of them, I will look at why that is.

I can picture it now, Wayne hosts Festivus at his place and listens to the airing of grievances from the players.

If he can convince Hoffman he's a winger it will be a Festivus miracle.

 

[Super Freak]

Apparently Hoffman will play on the wing if Bennett wants him to. He'll play wherever Bennett tells him to play, especially if Boyd is in the side.