Mike Colman: Easier ways to make a living than being a footy coach

WHO’D be a coach eh? Just as Wayne Bennett should have been celebrating 800 NRL matches, he was instead dealing with a huge wave of publicity about his job security. Then there’s Brad Thorn’s week, writes Mike Colman.

Thursday night’s clash between the Brisbane Broncos and the Parramatta Eels was Wayne Bennett’s 800th NRL game. But few people were focusing on that. File picture

• Bennett, Bellamy set for awkward meeting
• Broncos disorder: what happens next
• How Bennett was kept in the dark over Bellamy

THE other day I was watching a YouTube video of England rugby coach and former Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones speaking to a group of university students.

He was saying how sometimes as he drives to a match, he worries about all the things that have gone wrong during the week, and all the things that could go wrong in the game. He contemplates how it all could affect his life and the life of his family and he thinks “There’s got to be easier ways to make a living than this’’.

I reckon there would be a couple of coaches in Brisbane thinking that right now.

Like Wayne Bennett.

Just last week I was watching the Broncos’ game against the Roosters on TV and the camera kept panning up to Wayne in the coaching box.

Nothing unusual about that, it’s been happening for years.

Something exciting happens on the field, the screen fills with a picture of Wayne, and it’s like we’re looking at an Easter Island statue.

You get more emotion out of a damp dishcloth.

But not last week. On two occasions I actually saw him get excited. He even smiled.

The first was when Kotoni Staggs came infield to latch on to a Tevita Pangai Jr pop-up pass to score a try on debut.

The second was when James Roberts turned on the afterburners to beat five defenders on his way to the line.

Six days later, he should have been celebrating his 800th NRL match. Instead, he was dealing with a wave of publicity about whether his former protege Craig Bellamy is being headhunted for his job.

And whether he did the dirty on Kevin Walters. And whether he will see out his contract. And who he was talking to on his mobile phone.

Then there’s Brad Thorn.

It’s been a tough week for Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett. Picture: Liam Kidston.

You’ll never meet someone who shoots straighter than Thorn. All he wants is to get his Queensland Reds fit and firing.

He wants a team of single-minded, tunnel-visioned warriors ready to climb into the trenches and fire away until the last bullet is gone. Pretty much the way he did every time he strapped on the boots.

So what happens?

Before the season even starts one of his biggest names gets busted in a carpark on drug allegations which the police can’t make stick, and is never seen at Ballymore again.

Then his captain gets sent off about eight minutes into the season and when he finally comes back after serving his suspension, he gets injured.

Straight shooter: Queensland Reds head coach Brad Thorn. File picture

Then the man Thorn depends on to step in and lead a team of impressionable youngsters — a man universally respected as one of the most honest, upfront, admirable players in the country — fails two tests for cocaine and reveals he is suffering from depression.

Which got me to thinking about that shot of Bennett on the phone after his Broncos had squeaked home against the Eels on Thursday night which had everyone wondering who he was talking to.

Well, I have a theory.

Perhaps it was Thorn, and the conversation went something like this: “Brad? Wayne. Did you see that video of Eddie Jones? He’s right. There’s got to be easier ways to make a living than this.”

Originally published as Mike Colman: Easier ways to make a living than being a footy coach