Wayne Bennett begins life as coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs
Wayne Bennett has promised to dish the dirt on his Broncos axing after declaring he was “happy to be sacked” and that he had left Brisbane with a “clear conscience”.
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Wayne Bennett has promised to dish the dirt on his Broncos axing after declaring he was “happy to be sacked” and that he had left Brisbane with a “clear conscience”.
Bennett turned out in South Sydney gear for the first time at Redfern on Tuesday after joining the Rabbitohs on a three-year deal.
The seven-time NRL premiership-winning coach was dramatically sacked by voicemail on Sunday, bringing an end to his 25-year association with the Broncos.
Bennett’s dismissal paved the way for the drawn out Broncos-Rabbitohs coach swap to finally occur, allowing Anthony Seibold to take the reins at Brisbane for the next five years.
Bennett, 68, refused to agree to the swap, reneging on the planned switch last Friday which forced the Broncos to terminate his 2019 deal for contractual breaches.
While Bennett admitted to talking to Rabbitohs players while contracted to Brisbane, he maintained he was happy he didn’t walk out on the Broncos and would tell all one day.
“Do I look heartbroken?,” he said.
“I was happy to be sacked. I’ll leave it at that. I was happy.
“It (swap) was never part of the plans or discussion when I agreed to come here in 2020. It was never on the agenda.
“There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes which I was not always privy to. It wasn’t at my instigation.
“I’m pleased to be here and pleased I came here on my terms in the sense I didn’t have to leave the Broncos. I was asked to leave, sacked, whatever terminology you want to use doesn’t worry me.
“I’ve got a clear conscience.
“(I will speak about the Broncos) when I’m ready, I’m not ready yet. You’ll have to hang around and wait.”
Bennett’s warning may leave Broncos powerbrokers nervous about what he is planning to say when he breaks his silence.
The Broncos pulled the trigger following damning allegations from Seibold in The Sunday Mail that Bennett was already working for the Rabbitohs.
Bennett admitted he had spoken to Rabbitohs players Damien Cook and Alex Johnston, but not about the 2019 season.
“I did on the request of Shane Richardson (Rabbitohs boss),” he said.
“They were guys under contract and they wanted to keep them here and I was going to be the long-term coach here from 2020.
“In Alex’s particular case, he was thinking about moving clubs in the middle of his contract and Souths weren’t keen to lose him.
“That was purely what the discussions were about.
“I may well have referenced (2019) but if I did it wasn’t that I was coming here to coach straight away because I didn’t know that.
“I made a decision to stay at the Broncos and I’m here under other circumstances.”
While the Broncos announced Bennett’s termination at 2.50pm on Sunday, he maintains the first he heard of it was about 3.30pm after spending the afternoon with family.
Bennett said he did not get the chance to farewell his players or clear out his office.
“You don’t get a chance to say goodbye to anybody when they sack you and tell you not to come back to the building,” he said.
“We’ll get over it. It’s been a long time coming for me (to coach South Sydney), I was nearly here seven years ago but it didn’t happen.
“I had a look in the mirror when I put the (Rabbitohs) shirt on, looked okay, so I kept going.”
The Rabbitohs and Broncos will clash for the first time since the coach swap on May 2 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
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Originally published as Wayne Bennett begins life as coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs
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