Family man Wayne Bennett opens up on the hardships of coaching away from Brisbane home

WAYNE Bennett has opened up on the hardships of coaching away from Brisbane, revealing his wife Trish has been the glue to keep his family together.

Wayne Bennett during the Bronco's final training session before their Semi Final game against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium .

SHE is the rock behind Wayne Bennett, the most successful coach in NRL history.

And such is Trish Bennett’s constitution, the Broncos master coach admits he had his wife’s blessing to continue his career 1076km away in Sydney while she held the family fort.

Behind the hoopla surrounding Bennett’s seismic return to the Broncos is the story of Trish’s toughness; the motherly glue who rarely flinched during her husband’s six-year stint in New South Wales.

While Bennett spent many lonely nights away from his family, living in units as coach of the Dragons and then Newcastle, Trish provided care for their two disabled children, Katherine and Justin.

Wayne Bennett with his family, including wife Trish (front right).

For much of the six years, Bennett was a veritable nomad, embarking on midweek, hit-and-run flights to spend the odd night in the Brisbane family home.

By morning, he would be gone, placing complete trust in a woman described by son-in-law, former Queensland Origin player Ben Ikin, as tough and pragmatic as the seven-time title-winning coach.

Earlier this year, Justin, who suffered brain damage as a baby after having seizures following a triple-antigen needle, endured a period of ill-health.

Ikin says the episode shook Bennett, who in August was on the verge of signing with a rival club, believed to be the Dragons, when the Broncos rang offering a chance to return home.

Even then, Trish never applied pressure, aware any decision was made in unison, as husband and wife.

“I couldn’t have done all this without her support,” Bennett tells The Courier-Mail.

“I know that much ... it wouldn’t have happened at all.

“Trish and the family didn’t want to see me staying at home and not being happy and not being challenged. Like myself, they would naturally prefer me to be at home, but they were happy for me to go (to the Dragons and Newcastle) because they knew it’s what I wanted to do.

“If I had to do another three years away, I would have done another three years away.

“Once we made that decision, Trish supported me totally.”

Bennett, who turns 65 in January, will spend the coming days removing the last remnants from his Newcastle adobe. There is a Knights presentation night to attend in a fortnight, then he returns home for good.

“I’ve told my flatmate who I’ve been with for six years to keep a spare room for me,” he jokes.

“I may need to spend the odd night with him so I get used to living at home again.

“Hard or indifferent, it was a decision I made and a choice I made so I had to get on with it.

“If it was nine years away, it would have been nine years. I almost took another coaching job before I took the Broncos so I was prepared to do another three years if that was the case.

“I couldn’t look back and wish I was still in Brisbane. I made a choice not to be here but there was only one team in Brisbane so when I left, I had to go somewhere else and coach.

“We just got on with life as a family and as a unit we have made it work.”

Wayne Bennett and wife Trish at a Broncos presentation night.

Bennett once spoke candidly about his fears for Justin as he and Trish age, and the support networks his son will require. Today, Bennett admits the worry lingers, although Justin’s sense of humour suggests he is every bit his father’s son.

“It (the worry about Justin’s welfare) is still there ... that won’t go away, so that’s OK,” Bennett says.

“He’ll probably finish back up in the opposition rooms singing their song like he did in the past.

“Actually, he’s been watching all the Broncos grand finals, he’s getting ready to go to training with me again.

“He’s telling me he wants to see Allan Langer, Kevvie Walters and Kevin Campion back at training ... I’m trying to convince Justin they’ve retired.”

Trish is content for her husband to steal the newsprint. Several media organisations have recently approached the Bennett clan for interviews following their inspirational and eye-opening Australian Story documentary, aired way back in 1999.

But 15 years later, Trish happily resides in the background, succinctly summing up their situation when she told the ABC program: “I think we’re very both accepting ... and we’ll deal with it one day at a time.”

Ikin, who married Bennett’s other daughter Beth, has helped deliver Trish and Wayne with four grandchildren, William, 12, Joseph, 10, Grace, 9 and Isabella, 7. He says while Bennett has been able to compartmentalise his family and work pressures, Trish has provided the bedrock of support.

Trish Bennett supported Wayne’s move to the Dragons.

“I’ve got no doubt at different stages across the six years he would have missed the family enormously,” Ikin says.

“Justin had a few rough patches, Wayne came home one week and it was pretty bad — that would have worried him.

“It would surprise you how much Wayne came home during his time away. Sometimes he would be back one morning and fly home the next just to spend the day at home, that would happen twice a week.

“While he resided in Wollongong and Newcastle for six years for work, his heart was in Brisbane.”

Of his mother-in-law, Ikin says: “Trish is very similar to Wayne, they are just tough, practical people, they don’t whinge and complain.

“It is what it is and they say we have to make the best of what we’ve got, whatever the situation is.

“They will be the first to tell you they’ve had some challenging parts of their life, but they’ve had a really great journey too with a lot of fantastic memories.

“When you are around Wayne and even more so Trish, you can’t help but admire how they live their lives more than anything. It’s amazing when you are close to your in laws, you see life through a different lens.

“I feel very lucky to have met them.”