MELTDOWN Wayne Bennett - Moves to Souths

[Huge]

Lol “if we believe the media”... we dont need to “believe the media”, there was a press conference today and an email that has PROVED bennett was being a lot more underhanded and devious in his dealings with EVERYONE in this situation. Outside of bennett being hooked up to a lie detector and photo evidence what does the pro-bennett group want to show he was the one acting childishly and he did not give a shit about the club throughout this process? Honestly, what would prove it?

Seibold beat bennett. Simple, bennett wont get a payout as he breached his contract quite obviously, he got his job, he used the media. This is a massive win for seibold over bennett and if bennett did the same thing to seibold all the pro-bennett crowd on here would be screaming from the rafters about how bennett is such a genius with the media and is a cunning and smart operator. The hipocrisy is ridiculous...

Hypocrisy. HY. FYI.

 

[Gaz]

Why Brisbane Broncos sacked Wayne Bennett
Wayne Bennett’s contract has been sensationally terminated by the Brisbane Broncos, ending his 25-year tenure with the club.
In a bitter final chapter to one of rugby league’s greatest eras, The Daily Telegraph understands the Broncos’ board deemed Bennett’s position at the club “untenable” and the 68-year-old agreed to leave the club on Sunday.
His exit paves the way for Bennett to be part of an immediate swap with South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold, after the pair initially agreed deals to switch clubs in 2020.
The toxic stand-off between Bennett and Brisbane came to a head following explosive allegations in The Sunday Telegraph revealing the coach had already contacted Rabbitohs players and organised off-season training camps, despite still being contracted to the Broncos.

The Wayne Bennett-Anthony Seibold saga has finally been sorted. Picture: Tara Croser
Those actions were seen as a clear breach of his contract which left Bennett with an ultimatum to either leave the club or have his Brisbane contract terminated. It will likely cost Bennett a reported $900,000 payout for the final year of his deal.
“The Brisbane Broncos board has terminated coach Wayne Bennett’s contract with immediate effect,” the Broncos said in a statement on Sunday.
“The terms of this termination are confidential.
“The Broncos thank him for his contribution to the club and wish him all the best in the future.

Wayne Bennett and Anthony Seibold. Photo: Courier Mail
“An announcement about the club’s coach for the 2019 season will be made soon.”
Seibold was unaware of Bennett’s termination on Sunday afternoon. He was at the movies with his wife and three daughters in Sydney and emerged afterwards to discover the news.
He told The Daily Telegraph he was not in a position to speak until his termination at South Sydney had been made official.
“I’ve tried to be respectful to all parties since this began,” Seibold said. “So I’ll wait and talk at the appropriate time.”

Anthony Seibold and his wife arrive at the 2018 Dally M Awards.
Seibold told The Sunday Telegraph that Bennett had been contacting Rabbitohs players, including Alex Johnston, telling him he would be playing wing if Greg Inglis wanted to play fullback. Bennett also wanted Souths to cancel an off-season AIS trip for an army camp. Both were examples of how he was coaching both clubs.
“He’s been ringing up the Souths boys but then tells his press conference he hasn’t spoken to anyone,” Seibold said. “That’s absolute bullshit.
“He’s rang Damien Cook, Alex Johnston, Sam Burgess. It’s all gone too far and has to be sorted out.”

It finally happened ... coach Anthony Seibold is on his way the Brisbane Broncos a year early. Picture: Brett Costello
Souths had also been dealing with Bennett on possible signings and the club has not yet appointed an assistant coach to replace David Furner, believing Bennett would bring his own coaching members.
One source said it was a clear contravention of a coach’s contract to coach two sides at the same time.
Broncos board members moved quickly on Sunday to finalise Bennett’s departure.
Bennett could be in charge at Redfern as early as Tuesday. Seibold is now free to start coaching Brisbane.
The full playing squads from Souths and Brisbane return to training on Monday.
News Corp Australasia, majority owners of the Broncos and publishers of The Daily Telegraph, released a statement on Sunday afternoon.
“Wayne Bennett has made a significant contribution to the success of the Broncos for which we will always be grateful,” executive chairman Michael Miller said.
“We understand and respect that the board’s decision is in the best interest of the club, its fans, the players, coaches and the staff.”
Souths officials were saying little on Sunday.
Rabbitohs general manager of football, Shane Richardson, was not responding to Seibold’s comments, where he questioned those in charge at Redfern.
Those close to Bennett claim the current drama hasn’t unsettled him. South Sydney players, however, were said be confused about who would be their 2019 coach.
One player manager said: “Players are generally resilient but there’s no doubt they will be confused if they have one coach one day and another the next.”
It is understood Bennett has not spoken with Broncos chief executive Paul White for several months.
The coaching swap has been all but sealed several times in recent weeks before falling over.
But this time it’s final.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/spor...t/news-story/48b9772e8b6206b93948a814e026e5b0

 

[Gaz]

Excellent post Porthoz. You should be a journalist.

I second that, well done. Agree on all points.

 

[FaithinHook]

Anyone have an idea what time the presser with Seibs is on this morning? Looking forward to hearing what he's got to say about pre-season plans etc

 

[pagey]

Long post ahead... people with short attention span (@Nashy :p) and WB sycophants may want to skip this.

Based on everything that transpired until today... this is the alleged chronological chain of events:

- The CEO/Board presented Bennett with a proposal to continue his career at the Broncos in a high administrative function, as a recognition of his value and tenure at the club. Bennett wanted to keep coaching, and asked instead for an extension, which was not granted. This probably didn't go down well on both sides and explains White's assessment about things starting to sour 6 months ago.

- The Broncos went on to look for Bennett's successor and obviously tried to snare the current best in the business. According to the Broncos board, this had been communicated to Bennett (by his own admission as well). We'll probably never know who sabotaged the negotiations by leaking them, with rumours pointing to Bennett being the originator, either directly to the press or via the Storm. It's certainly a possibility as well that Bellamy used the Broncos to get a better deal from the Storm...

- Relationship between Broncos CEO and Head Coach are at an all time low when BBQ gate happens, making Bennett look quite smug and egotistical.

- Broncos publicly interview candidates to take over the reigns at the Broncos for 2020. Seibold is the chosen one, over Bennett's crown prince (JD) and many people's favourite (Kevvie).

- Shane Richardson approaches WB for the Rabbitohs job once he realises he was probably going to lose Seibold to the Broncos. Bennett, already being courted by the Wests Tigers, agrees to terms with Souths for 2020.

So far, it's kinda business as usual in the cutthroat world of professional sports, especially Rugby League, and it would make sense to expedite the coach swap, except...

- Broncos and Bennett maintain that he will be the coach for the 2019 season, although Souths appears to be pushing for an early trade, and many indicators point to Bennett moving south before pre-season training starts. Everyone looks set for the coach exchange...

- However, after a meeting between the Broncos Chairman and WB just over a week ago, both announce WB will remain in place for 2019. Negotiations for the coach swap between clubs however was still occurring in the background, as confirmed by Paul White today.

- Judging by the email released today, Bennett and Souths were after all, definitely planning to go ahead with the move. Wayne was actively making decisions about roster, training camp, etc... while Souths tell Seibold he could empty his desk on Thursday, as Bennett would be at Redfern by the 3rd of December.

- Bennett catches everyone by surprise, showing up unexpectedly at training on Friday, and scheduling a surprise Press Conference without management's knowledge. Paul White catches wind of it, and has a less than pleasant chat with WB before said presser, in which Bennett announces again that he plans to honour his contract at the Broncos.

- Seibold, in Brisbane for a different event, but according to rumours, scheduled to appear at a Broncos presser, reacts angrily to the latest development.

- In a tell all interview, Seibold takes aim at Bennett and Souths, while a leaked email confirms what many suspected. WB has lied about never discussing the 2019 season with Souths, when he categorically denied it on Friday.

- Broncos announce Bennett's sacking via a short press release. In the latter presser, Paul White confirms he had to do this via voicemail and email, as he couldn't reach Wayne despite multiple attempts.

- Both clubs shortly after announce their new coaches for 2019 officially, with Wayne's sudden availability and surreal comments making a lot of people drop their jaw...



All of the above is pretty much what is known publicly. Of course, the question is what happened behind the scenes, and the reason behind Wayne's stubbornness...

Everyone can take their own conclusions from the above, and many have already.

To me, although no one comes smelling like roses out of this, Bennett definitely appears to be the central figure in all the twists and reversals, lying to people on both sides (judging by the leaked email about his dealings with Souths, as well as White/Morris' statements about arrangements being made for ancillary personnel), being manipulative and creating insurmountable issues for everyone.
Whether he did force his sacking for ego, money or both, the situation had indeed become untenable (yep, I went there). I fully support the Broncos decision to sack him, and I hope they do not pay him a cent.
They appear to have tried to do the right thing by Wayne, first by offering him a long term position at the club, commensurate with his stand in the game and the club, then by accepting he get a deserved farewell from the club he helped build, when common sense would dictate coaches be swapped earlier.

Bennett was definitely trying to double dip, meddling into Souths as well as Broncos player recruitment/retention, and I have no doubt he would have tried to have the best of both worlds at Redfern in 2020. While ethically questionable at best, I can't really blame him for attempting this, but I am glad the White and Morris have cut the chord and put the club first.
It will give Seibold a chance to make the Broncos players want to stick with him at the club. Likewise with Bennett at Souths, although it appears he had already started that game. I guess we'll find out which players go where in 2020...

I really hope Seibold's reactions were not a result of him cracking under pressure, as it would not bode well for him at the highest pressure coaching job in Australia, but merely a big **** you to Wayne after being stuffed around multiple times. He certainly gave the Broncos all the ammo they needed to boot Bennett.
They now definitely have a basis for a justifiable termination with everything that has come to light, although it is quite likely a settlement will be reached, as is often the case in these situations. I highly doubt it will be in full or even close to it though.

P.S. What I also found interesting about all this, is how some people are shooting the messenger (Seibold, if rumours are true), and ignoring the message (Bennett's backhanded dealings with Souffs), just to avoid painting WB in a bad light.

Both parties played the game, hence the shit show.

 

[Jedhead]

Meanwhile, last night every player hastily checking skin-fold measurements before today's beginning of pre-season proper.:qmiedo:Hope Seibs at least learned how to make a dramatic speech during his time spent with Tugger. His first 'talk' with the boys would be worth hearing.

 

[broncos4life]

Calling Seibs shamelessly ambitious is a joke. The guy had a job interview for his dream job and got it. Good on him for that. From my understanding the club and the players wanted him gone ASAP. The Burgi were in England camp with Wayne and for sure those boys would be very happy for him to be with Souths next year. Wayne seemed to be the only factor holding this thing up, he either really wanted to be here or he was just playing a game to save face and a payout or number three stay with a young group of players who he could stop another coach influencing before he talked them into coming with him in 2020. Seibs did play his cards over the weekend and from the fallout finished this debacle.

Also from what happened here I don't think we could have ever let Wayne stay on in any role. The board shot down that Gould type deal he had presented late last year and I am now thankful they did. We could have really been in a shit show for years.

Yeah I agree with this, especially the bolded. I like Craddock as far as journalists go but this didn't make any sense and was a bizarre low blow.

 

[Broncos Maestro]

Not having a go at Bennett but I think this whole situation started since the announcement that he was separating with his wife of so many years (can’t be arsed to checked).

His behaviour since then has always concerned me.

Like most I’m neither pro or anti Bennett; I’m more concerned about his state of mind and whether if he is fit to competent ANY CLUB over the next few years.

 

[BroncsFan]

Can’t wait for Wayne’s next book!

Sounds like he needs some cash so could be out by end of the week

 

[broncos4life]

Long post ahead... people with short attention span (@Nashy :p) and WB sycophants may want to skip this.

Based on everything that transpired until today... this is the alleged chronological chain of events:

- The CEO/Board presented Bennett with a proposal to continue his career at the Broncos in a high administrative function, as a recognition of his value and tenure at the club. Bennett wanted to keep coaching, and asked instead for an extension, which was not granted. This probably didn't go down well on both sides and explains White's assessment about things starting to sour 6 months ago.

- The Broncos went on to look for Bennett's successor and obviously tried to snare the current best in the business. According to the Broncos board, this had been communicated to Bennett (by his own admission as well). We'll probably never know who sabotaged the negotiations by leaking them, with rumours pointing to Bennett being the originator, either directly to the press or via the Storm. It's certainly a possibility as well that Bellamy used the Broncos to get a better deal from the Storm...

- Relationship between Broncos CEO and Head Coach are at an all time low when BBQ gate happens, making Bennett look quite smug and egotistical.

- Broncos publicly interview candidates to take over the reigns at the Broncos for 2020. Seibold is the chosen one, over Bennett's crown prince (JD) and many people's favourite (Kevvie).

- Shane Richardson approaches WB for the Rabbitohs job once he realises he was probably going to lose Seibold to the Broncos. Bennett, already being courted by the Wests Tigers, agrees to terms with Souths for 2020.

So far, it's kinda business as usual in the cutthroat world of professional sports, especially Rugby League, and it would make sense to expedite the coach swap, except...

- Broncos and Bennett maintain that he will be the coach for the 2019 season, although Souths appears to be pushing for an early trade, and many indicators point to Bennett moving south before pre-season training starts. Everyone looks set for the coach exchange...

- However, after a meeting between the Broncos Chairman and WB just over a week ago, both announce WB will remain in place for 2019. Negotiations for the coach swap between clubs however was still occurring in the background, as confirmed by Paul White today.

- Judging by the email released today, Bennett and Souths were after all, definitely planning to go ahead with the move. Wayne was actively making decisions about roster, training camp, etc... while Souths tell Seibold he could empty his desk on Thursday, as Bennett would be at Redfern by the 3rd of December.

- Bennett catches everyone by surprise, showing up unexpectedly at training on Friday, and scheduling a surprise Press Conference without management's knowledge. Paul White catches wind of it, and has a less than pleasant chat with WB before said presser, in which Bennett announces again that he plans to honour his contract at the Broncos.

- Seibold, in Brisbane for a different event, but according to rumours, scheduled to appear at a Broncos presser, reacts angrily to the latest development.

- In a tell all interview, Seibold takes aim at Bennett and Souths, while a leaked email confirms what many suspected. WB has lied about never discussing the 2019 season with Souths, when he categorically denied it on Friday.

- Broncos announce Bennett's sacking via a short press release. In the latter presser, Paul White confirms he had to do this via voicemail and email, as he couldn't reach Wayne despite multiple attempts.

- Both clubs shortly after announce their new coaches for 2019 officially, with Wayne's sudden availability and surreal comments making a lot of people drop their jaw...



All of the above is pretty much what is known publicly. Of course, the question is what happened behind the scenes, and the reason behind Wayne's stubbornness...

Everyone can take their own conclusions from the above, and many have already.

To me, although no one comes smelling like roses out of this, Bennett definitely appears to be the central figure in all the twists and reversals, lying to people on both sides (judging by the leaked email about his dealings with Souths, as well as White/Morris' statements about arrangements being made for ancillary personnel), being manipulative and creating insurmountable issues for everyone.
Whether he did force his sacking for ego, money or both, the situation had indeed become untenable (yep, I went there). I fully support the Broncos decision to sack him, and I hope they do not pay him a cent.
They appear to have tried to do the right thing by Wayne, first by offering him a long term position at the club, commensurate with his stand in the game and the club, then by accepting he get a deserved farewell from the club he helped build, when common sense would dictate coaches be swapped earlier.

Bennett was definitely trying to double dip, meddling into Souths as well as Broncos player recruitment/retention, and I have no doubt he would have tried to have the best of both worlds at Redfern in 2020. While ethically questionable at best, I can't really blame him for attempting this, but I am glad the White and Morris have cut the chord and put the club first.
It will give Seibold a chance to make the Broncos players want to stick with him at the club. Likewise with Bennett at Souths, although it appears he had already started that game. I guess we'll find out which players go where in 2020...

I really hope Seibold's reactions were not a result of him cracking under pressure, as it would not bode well for him at the highest pressure coaching job in Australia, but merely a big **** you to Wayne after being stuffed around multiple times. He certainly gave the Broncos all the ammo they needed to boot Bennett.
They now definitely have a basis for a justifiable termination with everything that has come to light, although it is quite likely a settlement will be reached, as is often the case in these situations. I highly doubt it will be in full or even close to it though.

P.S. What I also found interesting about all this, is how some people are shooting the messenger (Seibold, if rumours are true), and ignoring the message (Bennett's backhanded dealings with Souffs), just to avoid painting WB in a bad light.

I agree with all that. Bennett has shamed himself here and has lost me tbh. I always had a small worry that if he stayed on he would try and poach players and **** us over as he left, I think we pretty much have confirmation of this now.

I don't know how many fans of The Office (US) there are on here but this whole fiasco reminds me of when Michael gets fired. After Dunder Mifflin and Michael essentially agree to part ways amicably the try to facilitate it as respectfully as possible, making sure he gets a proper send off. In return Michael spends the time fucking around with everyone and trying to steal clients and trade secrets for his company he is creating. What a **** stick.

 

[BroncsFan]

I think the terms will eventually come out either by a leak (there have been plenty of those) or in a court case.

I think the broncos will definitely want to leak something about the why to try and win some love back from the playing group.

At the moment they're probably thinking along the same lines of Joe Public that Bennett was staying in 2019 then all of a sudden there is a new coach.

Will be a very difficult transition for Seibold to walk into and I don't envy him at all today.

Looking back the broncos should've come out and said they were working with Souths to broker a deal for a coach swap in 2019. I guess this happened last week when Souths finally came to the table and put some money down, but Bennett decided to set fire to everything to make it "look" like he wasn't abandoning the playing group.

 

[Gaz]

Anyone have an idea what time the presser with Seibs is on this morning? Looking forward to hearing what he's got to say about pre-season plans etc

10.00am

 

[Dash]

The moment Bennett had the interview bragging how many players were at the Broncos "for him", this was always going to go to shit. It was a thinly veiled threat at best.

 

[Dexter]

Yeah, I'm sure the blokes who had secret conversations with his biggest rival Bellamy wanted Bennett to leave with dignity. I wonder who leaked the BBQ story. There's been some shady shit going on at the Broncos all year and just because they finally made the right decision doesn't mean the board deserve any praise. This was a monumental **** up from the get go and continued to snowball to the point where it ruined our season. The club sided with the media. The same media who shit on the club every single day. Bennett was never the real enemy. Some of the jokes on here have been disgusting but I'm not sure what I expected from a few of you

Thats a Craddock type comment.
The broncos went after Bellamy because he was the best candidate not to piss Wayne off by approaching his greatest rival.

 

[Unbreakable]

 

[the_next]

So many ill informed and naive comments flying around on Facebook.
It was never going to just end when the coaching saga was sorted.
Brace yourselves for every player being linked to a rival club.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

The clubs were negotiating a swap. The media were all over Wayne and after the year he’s had he would have known they were going to hammer him and derail next year anyway. He must have realised leaving was inevitable so he tried to manage it by participating in the process and telling the clubs his terms (regarding support staff). Getting a head start by interfering at souths and lying publicly was his biggest mistake.

I think his main requirement for cooperating with the swap was to be sacked. I really don’t think it was about the money but he honestly didn’t want the perception that he had walked out on his players willingly. The club didn’t want to be the administration that sacked Wayne Bennett.

When Wayne spoke to Morris that Saturday morning I think he was genuinely shocked to be told he wasn’t going to be sacked. So he declared he was staying and again on Friday when he knew that the swap deal was done he got in first with his press conference and said he was happy to stay. He knew they would have to sack him before training on Monday. I wouldn’t be surprised if both clubs were in on the email leak to justify it.

Wayne was dumb to start making decisions at souths and shouldn’t have lied. The clubs told plenty of lies as well and got away with saying nothing a lot of the time because they don’t front the media regularly.

I don’t think Seibold has done much wrong in all of this so welcome aboard Anthony and let’s get on with playing entertaining football.

 

[Gaz]

10.00am

Changed. Now 11.00am live Fox Sports.