Colman’s Call: Bennett has seen it all before amid latest Broncos rift

WAYNE Bennett might not be enjoying the atmosphere at the Broncos at the moment but he should be used to it, writes Mike Colman.

Wayne Bennett at Broncos training. Photo: Annette Dew

WAYNE Bennett might not be enjoying the atmosphere at the Broncos at the moment but he should be used to it.

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The scenario of a Brisbane legend in dispute with management and facing the ignominy of being forced from the club is nothing new.

It was front page news when it happened in 1989 and back then, just like now, Bennett was at the epicentre.

Wayne Bennett looks on during a Broncos training session. Photo: AAP

Difference was, he wasn’t the one being pushed. He was the one doing the pushing.

When the Broncos were formed in 1988 there was no question about who was the biggest name in the game.

Wally Lewis was king and Bennett was just another coach trying to make his mark.

After two seasons of mixed results, team captain Lewis and Bennett were on a collision course, not unlike the one that Bennett is reportedly on now with Broncos CEO Paul White.

Despite their once close working relationship, Bennett felt that Lewis held too much sway over the players and his high profile in the game made him impossible to control.

He decided to take the unprecedented step of stripping the captaincy from Queensland’s biggest sporting identity; to let him know who was boss, knowing it would probably lead to him leaving the club.

To say it was a bold move is an understatement of massive proportion. No-one who wasn’t around in the early days of Origin can even imagine what a huge figure Wally Lewis was on and off the field.

Wally Lewis in action for the Broncos in 1989.

If Broncos CEO John Ribot had sided with Lewis, it would have been the end of Bennett’s time at the Broncos and perhaps the end of his coaching career.

Ribot backed his coach in what was later described as the bravest move by a CEO in the game’s history.

Lewis was gone from the club a year later, the Broncos won their first premiership in 1992 and Bennett was on his way to Supercoach status.

Fast forward to 2018 and, as the late great Rex Mossop would say, it’s like déjà vu all over again.

Bennett is one of the biggest names in the game and, despite their once close relationship, Paul White believes it is time for a change.

Bennett wants to write the next chapter in his story himself. White says he is paid to make the tough decisions, just like Ribot was back in 1989.

Deep down, Bennett would know that. He’s been there himself and made those decisions many times — with Lewis, and later his coaching assistants Glenn Lazarus, Gary Belcher and Kevin Walters.

Wayne Bennett and Kevin Walters at Broncos training in 2015. Photo: Darren England.

He was there when Trevor Gillmeister was let go, and broke the news to Sam Thaiday that he wouldn’t be re-signed.

He negotiated with the Roosters in secret while still under contract to the Broncos and would have headed to Bondi Junction if news of his imminent move hadn’t got out.

So much as this isn’t the way he would like to go, don’t shed too many tears for Bennett. You can bet he won’t be. He’ll be too busy planning his next move.

He knows how it works.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword.