NEWS Wayne Bennett hits Brisbane Broncos with $400k claim

[Kimlo]

so do employers ... and one of those rights, is that your employees are not permitted to work with your competition, while under contract to you.

if he, as as been widely reported (and not just by news ltd) that he talked to Souths players about 2019 ... then he breached his contract and is not entitled to one cent.

You're not a contract law expert, so you can't say that with any confidence. We simply don't know what constitutes a breach of a contract in an elite sporting contract where they have a million stipulations. It's not a standard award agreement.

Contracts also do not override his legal rights. If Bennett has received legal advice that he has a strong case, I'd tend to believe it. You don't take on a case against a massive mega-corp unless you have a better than even chance of being in the right.

Him "talking" to players means absolutely nothing, if they want to invalidate his contract and avoid a pay out, they'd need something a bit better than hearsay. Talking to players does not prove he was working against his employer's interest. He is an International coach.

Otherwise the club should have sacked Bennett two years ago when Ash Taylor said he speaks to him on the phone regularly! Oh shit. He's helping the competition! Breach of contract.

 

[Kimlo]

Now can we all openly hate this lying piece of shit? Complete fucking knob. It's always been about the money and I hope that he has burnt every possible bridge and is never allowed back anywhere near the Broncos.

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

 

[Jedhead]

If i was a souths fan i would be pissed off hearing this. Brisbane is a massive business with the ability to take bennett to court and hold off for years on payment just to make life difficult. His head will be in more then one place next year BIG TIME.

Eh which head are we referring to?

 

[broncos4life]

Even if it is about the money, good on him. If he is owed a dollar, I hope he gets it.

Employees have rights, and if he has legal ground, I hope he does get every dollar owed. That's only fair.

Employers have rights too. Rights like their employees not leaking information, working with current opposition just to name a few.

 

[Kimlo]

Employers have rights too. Rights like their employees not leaking information, working with current opposition just to name a few.

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?

 

[WASSHHH]

For all those commenting that Bennett should get every cent, that could be a bit of a moot point.

Bennett hasn’t denied working with the Rabbits regarding the 2019 season (changing their preseason training program, informing players where they’ll be playing during the season, informing players they can look elsewhere (Jennings)) whilst still contracted at the Broncos for that very same season.

This is a very different situation to Bennett working with the English (or QLD, Australia or NZ) team for two reasons: the Broncos gave their blessing for him to work with the English team, and; the Broncos don’t play against the English team, they are not direct competitors.

If this is all true, which again Bennett has never denied, then that is not only a breach of his contract from which immediate termination would most likely be warranted, but also grounds for the Broncos to seek legal advice regarding action against Bennett.

Whether people think it’s ‘fair’ or not is irrelevant. Contracts are legal documents and if one party really wants to get into litigation with the other over the terms of the contract, things can get very expensive, very messy and very quickly.

There are some fantastic contract lawyers out there that will latch on to, and win a litigation, based on only a few words of a 100 page contract.

 

[Kimlo]

Honestly, I don't see this as a Broncos Vs Bennett thing. This is just legal bullshit between lawyers, I don't really care who wins or loses so to speak, but I'd certainly back the little guy over a scumbag employer who somehow operate at a "loss" to avoid paying a single dollar of tax while being a cancer on this country in general. At least if Bennett gets a pay out some of that will be taxed and the community wins.

I would love for nothing more than for the shit bags at News LTD to relinquish ownership, as much as I love the Broncos, I abhor News LTD.

 

[Gaz]

WB just giving Rabbits a heads up to what would happen if things don't work out at Redfern.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

The whole situation was odd. If my employer was negotiating with their competition to swap me for one of their employees (with my knowledge) and I was sacked for speaking to people in that organisation then I would be pissed off.
Having said that I still believe Wayne wanted to be sacked.

 

[winslow_wong]

I wish Bennett would just come back so everyone can stop fighting

 

[Foordy]

Honestly, I don't see this as a Broncos Vs Bennett thing. This is just legal bullshit between lawyers, I don't really care who wins or loses so to speak, but I'd certainly back the little guy over a scumbag employer who somehow operate at a "loss" to avoid paying a single dollar of tax while being a cancer on this country in general. At least if Bennett gets a pay out some of that will be taxed and the community wins.

I would love for nothing more than for the shit bags at News LTD to relinquish ownership, as much as I love the Broncos, I abhor News LTD.

Wayne Bennett's employer was the Brisbane Broncos ... the Brisbane Broncos DO NOT operate at a loss, in fact they are one of only a very small minority of rugby league clubs that make a profit.

 

[CaptainHook]

Not surprising this development.

I always thought it was a piss weak reason the Broncos gave for sacking him.

If they are actively brokering for a coaching swap they can't possibly expect the coach in question to not have any contact with their incoming club.

That has no basis in reality at all.

Based on that logic, Bennett would have been sacked years ago when he helped convince Andrew Johns to stay at Newcastle and reject that massive offer from Rugby Union.

It's certainly not how Rugby League works.

Imagine if Cooper Cronk called Bennett and said he wanted to play for the Broncos. Based on this logic Bennett is supposed to say "Sorry mate, not interested. You work for a competitor."

Please. It's bullshit.

That being said, contract law is different to corporate law which is different to criminal law.

I think Broncos management should have just paid him out. They should've had some integrity behind their intentions and held firm in their belief that Bennett is not the future and we are going in a new direction.

Cop the PR nightmare over sacking the game's greatest ever coach.

Don't white ant him, then complain he's doing the same to you and then find a weak as piss reason to get rid of him so you can look innocent.

I expect them to settle out of court. I hope it's true because a legal battle is not what we need and Seibold deserves some clear air.

With the stupidity of broncos management though...

 

[Thelmus]

Not surprising this development.

I always thought it was a piss weak reason the Broncos gave for sacking him.

If they are actively brokering for a coaching swap they can't possibly expect the coach in question to not have any contact with their incoming club.

That has no basis in reality at all.

Based on that logic, Bennett would have been sacked years ago when he helped convince Andrew Johns to stay at Newcastle and reject that massive offer from Rugby Union.

It's certainly not how Rugby League works.

Imagine if Cooper Cronk called Bennett and said he wanted to play for the Broncos. Based on this logic Bennett is supposed to say "Sorry mate, not interested. You work for a competitor."

Please. It's bullshit.

That being said, contract law is different to corporate law which is different to criminal law.

I think Broncos management should have just paid him out. They should've had some integrity behind their intentions and held firm in their belief that Bennett is not the future and we are going in a new direction.

Cop the PR nightmare over sacking the game's greatest ever coach.

Don't white ant him, then complain he's doing the same to you and then find a weak as piss reason to get rid of him so you can look innocent.

I expect them to settle out of court. I hope it's true because a legal battle is not what we need and Seibold deserves some clear air.

With the stupidity of broncos management though...

Well said. Those were my thoughts exactly about it all. Let us hope this is handled by adults for once, and not become another ego driven, drawn out fiasco that de-rails our season.

 

[pagey]

so do employers ... and one of those rights, is that your employees are not permitted to work with your competition, while under contract to you.

if he, as as been widely reported (and not just by news ltd) that he talked to Souths players about 2019 ... then he breached his contract and is not entitled to one cent.

Uh ! You seem to pick and choose your trust in the media.

 

[lynx000]

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?

Actually that is not right, whoever brings the action bears the onus of proof. Bennett will have to prove that the Broncos were in breach of contract by terminating him.

 

[Kimlo]

Actually that is not right, whoever brings the action bears the onus of proof. Bennett will have to prove that the Broncos were in breach of contract by terminating him.

In this case, didn't the Broncos bring the action by terminating him, and he is disputing it, so the onus of proof is still on the Broncos to prove the breach?

Or are you saying as long as they have some sort of proof, that's good enough, and Bennett will have to have his own proof to prove he did not breach his contract?

 

[lynx000]

In this case, didn't the Broncos bring the action by terminating him, and he is disputing it, so the onus of proof is still on the Broncos to prove the breach?

Or are you saying as long as they have some sort of proof, that's good enough, and Bennett will have to have his own proof to prove he did not breach his contract?

No, if he commences the action, he is the plaintiff in the action and he bears the onus of proving his claim. I presume that the claim will be based on an allegation of breach of contract constituted by his wrongful termination, so he will have the onus of proving that there was a breach of contract. Given the nature of the action, that will be proof on the balance of probabilities.

If the action is defended by the Broncos, presumably it will be on the grounds that the termination was lawful because there had been a repudiatory breach of contract by Bennett which they were entitled to accept and terminate the contract. They will have an evidentiary burden of establishing the grounds of their defence to the action.

 

[Wolfie]

So what are the Broncos going to do if Bennett gets Moose to back him up about Seibold sanctioning his move away from Brisbane before he was contracted to coach us? Wont that smack of hypocrisy?

We should have just paid him out from the very start or stuck by him.