Greg Chappell believes Wayne Bennett’s coaching abilities transcend rugby league

GREG Chappell believes that Wayne Bennett’s coaching transcends rugby league as the master mentor prepares to sign what may be his final contract

WAYNE Bennett may be about to sign his final contract but cricket great Greg Chappell believes his methods have timeless appeal well beyond Rugby league.

Chappell, 67, is a year older than Bennett and a student of his methods to the point where he has asked Bennett several times to speak to Australia’s emerging cricket coaches.

Bennett is set to sign a two-year contract extension with the Broncos which would take him almost to his 70th birthday but Chappell feels there is no risk the game will leave him behind.

Chappell nominates standing up for what you believe in, cutting senior players a year early rather than a year late, ignoring outside criticism, building compatible partnerships and getting the best out of unruly players as key Bennett skills which have timeless lessons for coaches in any sport.

“At one of our courses for our level three coaches, one asked him why he was not doing something with the team he was with at the time,’’ Chappell said.

“Wayne gave him the Wayne look, paused for a moment, and said ‘because it does not work’. He said ‘I have survived because I focus on the things that work’.

“That is his great strength, because he is not swayed by what other people think. He does not listen to the noise around him.

“Wayne said to our coaches that the first thing is knowing what you stand for, the things you will not change and others where you give some ground.’’

Chappell has been a great advocate of promoting young talent and he has watched with interest

how Bennett has subtly moved on senior players.

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“He lets them go when they have still got some marketability. He might get one more year out of them but someone else might be able to get two or three years.

“It is a win-win situation. He is always renewing his teams. He never gets to the point where he

thinks ‘this is it’.

“He knows if you are standing still in professional sport you are likely to be overtaken. While Wally Lewis might not have been a big fan when he was let go, I think he realises in hindsight it was the right decision for the club and for him.’’

The sensational departure of Lewis from the club in 1990 was the Bennett call which subtly influenced Australia’s cricket landscape.

Wayne Bennett is set to re-sign with the Broncos yet again.

Australian cricket’s chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns, a Lewis fan, studied the decision and drew strength from it when he had to make tough calls on the 50-over careers of Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor.

Chappell feels a key skill of Bennett has been to accept that the best players often come in the roughest packages.

“It is not always the guys who toe the line who are the best players,’’ he said. “Sometimes the guys who break the rules are the best footballers. He has been able to harness that flair.’’

“I admire the fact he gives you guys (journalists) what he has to give you but he does not give you any more.

“There is no point wasting energy with a lot of information which won’t make a difference.

“He has never wanted to make himself sound better. He has been honest and consistent. Very smart.’’