South Sydney are preparing to offer Wayne Bennett a three-year deal as early as next week as the veteran coach weighs up a return to the Rabbitohs.
It comes as Parramatta held a scheduled board meeting on Wednesday night at which it was decided not to follow up on approaches from third parties allegedly acting on behalf of Bennett.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, told the Herald the Eels had been made aware that Bennett had interest in exploring the possibility of joining Parramatta if they moved on from coach Brad Arthur.
The Eels, however, won’t rush into a decision on Arthur’s future despite the Rabbitohs pushing hard for Bennett’s services after terminating the contract of Jason Demetriou on Tuesday.
Parramatta powerbrokers are conscious of the injury predicament that has hampered Arthur’s ability to get the best out of his team, with Mitchell Moses joined by skipper Clint Gutherson on the long-term injury list this week. The Eels are currently 14th on the ladder, having won just three games this season.
The Eels board want to give Arthur more time to prove he can dig the club out of the hole it currently finds itself in and won’t be pressured into a decision by South Sydney’s urgency to appoint a new coach. Eels chairman Sean McElduff declined to comment.
South Sydney are preparing a three-year deal for Wayne Bennett to return to the club.Credit: Getty
The Rabbitohs are discussing Bennett’s return to the club and are willing to give him the three-year deal he has indicated he desires. Sources told the Herald that the Rabbitohs board and owners have endorsed the pursuit of Bennett.
South Sydney’s former head of football Shane Richardson secured Bennett’s services in 2019 knowing his assistant Jason Demetriou would take over after three seasons. The club made two preliminary finals and one grand final before Bennett left the club.
Sources with knowledge of the situation said Bennett does not want to be restricted, as has been the case in his last two deals with South Sydney and the Dolphins, and wants a minimum three-year deal. The Rabbitohs are open to such a deal.
South Sydney have also shut down any chance of luring Bennett back to the club this season in an attempt to keep their faint finals hopes alive.
Bennett is the short-priced favourite to return for a second stint at Souths, with the club hopeful they can broker a deal in the next fortnight.
The Dolphins already have Bennett’s successor, Kristian Woolf, at the club, while an early exit for Bennett would allow him to start rebuilding the Rabbitohs’ roster.
But Souths do not have the money in their $5.5m football department cap to accommodate Bennett this year, having paid out $375,000 to Demetriou, and do not want to sabotage the hard work the Dolphins have done in establishing themselves in the top grade.
“We just won’t do it, because we have too much respect for [chief executive] Terry Reader and the team at the Dolphins and what they’ve achieved the past few years – they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are now,” Souths chief executive Blake Solly said.
“We’re not that sort of club. We plan to sign a new coach, and we hope it is a matter of weeks rather than months … but it will be for next year. We’re more than happy with Ben and the coaching group we have for the remainder of this year.”
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson welcomed the return of Bennett to the club’s arch rivals.
“It’s always good for the game to have Wayne coaching, the legend that he is, and I think it sounds like it’s already been done, doesn’t it? If Wayne says it’s done, it’s done – I think that’s how it works,” Robinson said.
“I think they’ve rolled out the red carpet and said, ‘Please say yes’, so I think if that’s the case then if Wayne wants it, and it was a great rivalry a few years ago. He’s the best coach that’s ever been, so it’s a pretty clear choice of his if he wants it.”
Additional reporting by Billie Eder