Wayne Bennett was planning to be at Souths next week before stunning turn

Souths have been rocked by Wayne Bennett’s commitment to the Broncos following explosive revelations the super coach planned to start at the Rabbitohs next week.

Coach Wayne Bennett gestures during the Brisbane Broncos training session in Brisbane, Wednesday, August 1, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING

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Souths have been rocked by Wayne Bennett’s commitment to the Broncos following explosive revelations the super coach planned to start at the Rabbitohs on December 3.

The Sunday Mail understands Bennett has already been consulted on a Rabbitohs pre-season camp and was so convinced he would be sacked by Brisbane he was ready to join Souths on Monday week.

But Broncos chairman Karl Morris’ refusal to jettison Bennett at a meeting on Saturday has thwarted any hope of the 68-year-old arriving at Redfern in the next fortnight.

Bennett declined to comment but it is believed current Souths coach Anthony Seibold - his Broncos successor - was expecting a straight swap to occur in the coming days.

Bennett had begun planning South Sydney’s pre-season. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

Well-placed sources say the Rabbitohs were so advanced in planning for life after Seibold that Bennett had input on a key training camp that was to form the centrepiece of their 2019 pre-season.

Seibold had floated the prospect of a training regime at a specific location, but the Rabbitohs were set to amend that to a military-style camp for the whole squad after discussing the trip with Bennett.

Wary of a player mutiny against Seibold, Souths are happy to release the rookie coach, prompting club bosses to contact Broncos chiefs a fortnight ago to discuss the prospect of an urgent straight swap.

Bennett expected to be out the door. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

South Sydney general manager of football Shane Richardson recently flew to England for talks with Bennett, who was in the UK coaching the British team in their Test series against New Zealand.

Bennett feared the bullet was coming at Brisbane, but Morris’ decision to honour his Broncos deal next season has seemingly thrown a spanner in the works.

The Sunday Mail understands Bennett’s current assistant Jason Demetriou will eventually join him at Souths, while Seibold is expected to bring his right-hand man Peter Gentle to Red Hill.

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