WAYNE BENNETT 

September 26, 2018

Sydneysiders didn’t know much about Wayne Bennett when he was appointed co-coach of the Canberra Raiders for the 1987 season.  Bennett joined the Raiders’ inaugural coach, Don Furner, and helped Canberra make the Grand Final for the first time.  During the season, there was speculation that several of the Queenslanders in the Canberra team, such as Mal Meninga, Gary Belcher, Gary Coyne, and Kevin Walters may leave the club to follow Wayne Bennett back to Brisbane.  Bennett was duly appointed as the first coach of the new Brisbane Broncos franchise for the 1988 season.  All four Queenslanders mentioned above played their part in Canberra’s first premiership victory, when they defeated Balmain in the 1989 Grand Final in extra time.

Wayne Bennett was no stranger to Queensland rugby league fans.  A more than handy winger, Bennett had represented Australia on the 1971 tour of New Zealand.  Playing out of Warwick, Bennett played seven matches for Queensland in the days before State of Origin, and later represented Brothers and Souths in the Brisbane competition.

Bennett played under coaches that would later have an influence on his own style.  Bob Bax played halfback for Brothers in the 1940s, and later became a well-respected coach of Brisbane Norths.  Norths won the premiership from 1961 to 1964.  Bax later coached the Queensland team that included Bennett in 1971.  Bennett later played under Paul Broughton at Brothers.  Broughton later coached Newtown and Balmain in Sydney, and went on to become one of the game’s most respected administrators.

Wayne Bennett had an impressive coaching resume before joining Canberra.  Starting at Ipswich in 1976, Bennett coached Brisbane Souths between 1977 and 1979, and again from 1984 to 1985.  He coached Brothers from 1980 to 1982.  During this time, Bennett first began to nurture players such as Gary Belcher and Mal Meninga.  Bennett also replaced Des Morris as coach of Queensland for the 1986 State of Origin series, and held the position for three years.

Bennett masterminded the 44-12 win over defending premiers Manly in the opening round of the 1988 season.  The Broncos started the season on fire, but the weekly grind of the competition, and the constant travel eventually caught up with them.  They first made the finals in 1990, but were well beaten by eventual premiers Canberra.  Wayne Bennett made the excruciating decision to let perhaps Queensland’s best ever player, Wally Lewis, leave the club, and give the captaincy to Gene Miles.  Miles was also eventually let go, as a new crop of players came through under the mentorship of Bennett, including Michael Hancock, Andrew Gee, Steve Renouf, Paul Hauff, Willie Carne, Julian O’Neill, Alan Cann, and Kerrod Walters.  Brisbane won the premiership in 1992 and 1993 thanks to the new crop of superstars, sprinkled with the experience of Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Glenn Lazarus, and Trevor Gillmeister.

When Brisbane were at the top of the spear of the Super League war in the mid-1990s, Wayne Bennett stayed as head coach to protect his players.  The Broncos won the only Super League competition in 1997, and were victorious in the 1998 and 2000 NRL Grand Finals.  Brisbane were again champions in 2006.  Bennett’s team included Justin Hodges, Shane Webcke, Darius Boyd, Brent Tate, Sam Thiaday, Petero Civoniceva, Dane Carlaw, Brad Thorn, and Tonie Carroll.

After more than twenty years as head coach of Brisbane, Wayne Bennett left the club at the end of the 2008 season to coach St George-Illawarra.  In 2010, Bennett led the Dragons to their first premiership since 1979.  He later coached Newcastle with mixed success, before returning to Brisbane in 2015.

Under the coaching of Wayne Bennett, Brisbane successfully underwent a transitional period which introduced new players to the club such as Corey Oates, Anthony Milford, Tevita Pangai, and Jamayne Isaako.  Bennett has helped resurrect the careers of James Roberts and Matt Lodge.

In today’s age of the 24 hour news cycle, and social media, it may be hard to understand the methods behind the coaching style of Wayne Bennett.  Players at the NRL level don’t really need coaching in skills.  They need man-management, and mental toughness training.  Wayne Bennett has been a master of this aspect of the game for more than forty years.

Brisbane have decided to go in another direction at the end of Bennett’s contract in 2019.  History at clubs such as Manly and Canterbury show that if a club is to say goodbye to a coach, they better have a suitable replacement to take over.  I’m not sure Brisbane can say they do.

As for Wayne Bennett, he may retire.  He may take a position with another club.  He may take on a consultancy role somewhere.  Bennett once wrote a book titled ‘Don’t Die With The Music In You’.  I’m certain Wayne Bennett has a few more tunes to play.

Read more about Wayne Bennett here