Wayne Bennett

[Big Pete]

What do you make of him?

I think he's the best Queensland coach in history and his work with Souths Magpies, Brisbane and St. George prove it.

Go nuts guys.

 

[Kimlo]

Equal best ever, if he wins a premiership with St George then he will be/go down as the best coach to ever be in the game.

Here is hoping this thread doesn't turn into an AP Vs the rest shit storm [icon_wink

 

[ALH]

Best coach in the history of the game just has that ability to get the best out of his players.

 

[Flutterby]

Equal to whom broncospwn.

For mine I'd say best ever, but interested to know who you believe to be his equal. IMO he has surpassed the great Jack Gibson, who I had as number 1 ever coach for a really long time

 

[langer77]

i hope st george dont win the comp

 

[Kimlo]

Equal to whom broncospwn.

For mine I'd say best ever, but interested to know who you believe to be his equal. IMO he has surpassed the great Jack Gibson, who I had as number 1 ever coach for a really long time

Jack Gibson. He won permierships with different clubs which shows that he is capable of taking different teams to become the best and adapting. Bennett has only done it with the Broncos, that's not a criticism however it does leave the question, could he have done it elsewhere?

So far he has shown he can take a different team and make them very good with St George, if he can take them all the way in his stint there then he will be undoubtedly the best ever IMO.

 

[Flutterby]

Fair call

 

[Porthoz]

Equal to whom broncospwn.

For mine I'd say best ever, but interested to know who you believe to be his equal. IMO he has surpassed the great Jack Gibson, who I had as number 1 ever coach for a really long time

Jack Gibson. He won permierships with different clubs which shows that he is capable of taking different teams to become the best and adapting. Bennett has only done it with the Broncos, that's not a criticism however it does leave the question, could he have done it elsewhere?

So far he has shown he can take a different team and make them very good with St George, if he can take them all the way in his stint there then he will be undoubtedly the best ever IMO.

This ^^^^

The Dragons are only where they are because of Bennett. They have about as much creativity in their roster as a brick wall, which coincidently, is their trade mark.
Their structure and the way Bennett moulded the mostly average individuals to suit the team is what makes them so strong. Add to that the "simple" strategy and tactics, and you get the Dragons.

The only thing I really dislike about WB is his personality, but I guess I only see what he wants me and the rest of the public to see. :oops:

 

[Bucking Beads]

Awesome man manager not sure about how good of a coach he was. His tactics always seemed so basic. He was awesome in his own way.

 

[Foordy]

best coach in history IMHO. when Gibson was coaching there was no salary cap and you could have anyone you wanted... but Bennett continually made finals series even after losing many rep quality players over the years.

 

[BroncoMatt]

Equal to whom broncospwn.

For mine I'd say best ever, but interested to know who you believe to be his equal. IMO he has surpassed the great Jack Gibson, who I had as number 1 ever coach for a really long time

Jack Gibson. He won permierships with different clubs which shows that he is capable of taking different teams to become the best and adapting. Bennett has only done it with the Broncos, that's not a criticism however it does leave the question, could he have done it elsewhere?

So far he has shown he can take a different team and make them very good with St George, if he can take them all the way in his stint there then he will be undoubtedly the best ever IMO.

Bennett has won a premiership with another club. He won a premiership with Souths Magpies who beat a star studded Wynumm-Manly line up in the BRL in 1985.

 

[Flutterby]

Which I would suggest at the time was probably close to if not on par wtih any of the NSWRL premiership teams that Gibson coached.

 

[The Brizz]

For many reasons I grew a dislike for the man in his last few years at Red Hill but I still think he is easily the best coach in my lifetime. St George were a woefully in consistent side before he came and he turned them into the most brutally consistent side in modern history (they are probably too consistent for their own good). They have a fullback and a flashy half who can't tackle in the 6 and 7 but get around it by being insanely disciplined. Michael Weyman is the perfect example of Bennett's influence, the guy was a psycho who couldn't stay fit or suspension free but under Bennett he has become an elite prop who can make a huge difference for his side (yesterday against the Roosters he was massive).

 

[Kimlo]

Ah I wasn't aware he had won a premiership with another team before! Well that just adds to my opinion of how damn good he is.

He had an INSTANT effect on the Dragons, they are consistently very good it will be 3-4 years before he has a roster that he truly wants and is good enough to win a premiership with. Most of the players at the Dragons were average when Bennett took over they are now very well known and considered good to very good for the most part. Everything about the dragons points to brilliant coaching.

I think they can win it this year but only if we fall over IMO, Bennett has a three year contract and being his age I'm not sure if he will continue past that but if he does and he manages to win a comp, or two then there will no argument who the best ever coach is.

One record which I'm sure would be unmatched is his finals streak, what is it now 20 years in a row a team he coaches makes the finals? With 33% of that time going all the way to win a premiership(6/19).

 

[Je$ter]

Great coach, great person.

Anybody who has had a private audience with him can attest to his passion for rugby league and in particular for Queensland. It is no surprise his team is on top, he is a leader of men and has a way with words that make you feel 10ft tall and bulletproof.

 

[Professor47]

I never saw Jack Gibson coach - but even some of the media experts and ex players have mentioned they think WB has surpassed him.

Definitely the best coach since I've been following which is the last 15 or so years. No doubt he has his flaws and he has never been the best tactical coach (which he admits himself anyway) but a coach who is only out to win through tactics is never been what he is about.

I personally reckon his a champ - I mean what he's done for the Broncs...

There were definitely some decisions that I didn't agree with - Stu Kelly was a big one but overall I thought it would have been well deserved if he left in 2008 with a title but the man himself said "It was never going to be about one game."

A quick question though - as audragon mentioned, the Dragons on paper aint THAT great - but he's made their D in the past two years top shelf. I wonder why he couldn't really get that consistency in the Bronco's D throughout the season? Is it because of our heavy packs during recent seasons and lack of mobility in the forwards? In 06 our goal-line D was superb but we've never had the all-season around D like the Dragons have had over the past two years... ???