It amazes me that people still haven't worked out the way Bennett uses the media. After all these years and all the proof to the contrary people still think whatever Bennett says to the media is actually what he thinks.
Wayne uses the media as his puppet, to achieve the outcome he desires and the team needs.
He doesn't actually think the early announcement had anything to do with that first half. The players were off, it is as simple as that. Bennett knows that the best thing for his team is that the media don't focus on the individuals that had a bad game so he jumps on the grenade, he literally takes one for the team.
He went into that press conference looking for a distraction and the media didn't disappoint. As soon as the question was asked about the early announcement he jumps at it. Saying that there are no excuses but it certainly was a factor.
Now for the rest of the week the media are focusing on his sour grapes and dissecting his comments and talking about what a sore loser he is, speculating that it is jealousy that he missed out on the Australian gig.
While idiots like Rothfield work themselves into a frenzy and stir up the fans about what a poor sport Bennett is, what they aren't talking about it is:
Hunt's poor game - is his confidence still down from the GF? Oh my will he ever recover?
Milford being ineffectual and taking several wrong options at crucial times
Are the Broncos further off than they appear?
Josh McGuire didn't have any impact against the bigger, mostly NSW pack
Kahu having a poor game under the high ball
Parker's poor body language in the first half
Brisbane's renowned defence being undone by offloads
How much they miss Macca and Blair
So on and so on.
Bennett does what the team needs, regardless of how it will make him look.