Wayne Bennett’s best and worst decisions at the Broncos

With Wayne Bennett doing his best Clint Eastwood impersonation and riding off into the sunset – albeit having been shot in the back once or twice – Mike Colman looks back on his five best and worst decisions of the past 30 years.

Wayne Bennett became the main powerbroker in Brisbane after Wally Lewis left.

WITH Wayne Bennett doing his best Clint Eastwood impersonation and riding off into the sunset – albeit having been shot in the back once or twice – it’s time to look back on his five best and worst decision of the past 30 years

THE BEST

Leaving the Raiders (1988)

FOR someone who so steadfastly insisted on honouring his 2019 contract at the Broncos, it is ironic that Bennett had to break a contract to join the start-up club in the first place. Bennett was tied to the Raiders, who he had co-coached to the 1987 grand final, when Broncos founder Paul Morgan approached him to become the club’s first coach the following year. “Only Paul Morgan could have convinced me to break a contract,” he said. It was the start of the longest and most successful coaching partnership in the game’s history.

Wayne Bennett stripped Wally Lewis of the Broncos captaincy.

Sacking Wally Lewis (1989)

AT THE time it seemed unthinkable and earned Bennett plenty of flak, but stripping the captaincy from Queensland league royalty King Wally Lewis after just two years in the competition proved to be a turning point in the club’s fortunes. With a disgruntled Lewis leaving at the end of the 1990 season Bennett had established himself as a major powerbroker and the Broncos won their first premiership two years later.

Taking Smith for a Spin (1993)

Going into the 1993 grand final the reigning premier Broncos were battered and bruised having come from fifth spot while St George, their opponents for the second straight year, were relatively fresh. Two days before the game Bennett was given a copy of Dragons coach Brian Smith’s game notes from the previous year’s decider. Finding them relatively tame, Bennett rewrote them to include harsh and inflammatory descriptions of the Brisbane players, and distributed them to his team. Fired up, the incensed Broncos steamrolled the Dragons to go back to back.

Putting Berrigan to hooker (2006)

DURING his 25 years at the club Bennett has made dozens of canny positional changes including Darren Lockyer and Anthony Milford from fullback to five-eighth and Darius Boyd from winger to fullback but none has had the spectacular short term success of moving centre Shaun Berrigan to hooker in round 22 of the 2006 season. With top choice Michael Ennis injured and fill-in Casey McGuire struggling to adapt, Berrigan was seen as a band-aid solution but he revitalised the misfiring Broncos attack and was Clive Churchill medallist in the club’s grand final win over Melbourne eight weeks later.

Moving Shaun Berrigan to hooker in 2006 proved a masterstroke.

Getting out on top (2008)

WITH the writing on the wall that management felt his days at the club were numbered, Bennett made a dignified exit from Red Hill. Issuing a statement that in part said, “The Broncos have always believed it is better for a player to leave a year too early than a year too late. I have always believed there should be no exception, even for the coach”, he left with his legacy intact and, winning a premiership with St George-Illawarra two years later, enhanced his reputation as the game’s best-ever coach.

THE WORST

Passing on Thurston (2001)

IN HIS 31 years coaching in the NRL Wayne Bennett has admitted to just two mistakes. The biggest was failing to sign a teenage Johnathan Thurston when he had the chance. Admittedly he says it wasn’t entirely his fault, but he does own up to being convinced by others in Broncos management that the future superstar wasn’t the player they needed. Instead Thurston was snapped up by the Bulldogs for free before becoming arguably the number one player in the game at the Cowboys.

Johnathan Thurston could have been leading the Broncos to titles, not tormenting them. Picture: Adam Head

Letting Petero Go (2007)

CLUB favourite Petero Civoniceva claimed that Bennett had promised him a major pay hike when marquee prop Shane Webcke left the club. When the time came Broncos CEO Bruno Cullen said there was nothing left under the salary cap. Petero walked and the club signed Ashton Sims and Joel Clinton for a combined $210,000 more than they had offered him. Regardless of the financial machinations, the perception that Bennett had dudded one of the club’s most popular players cast a stain that remains today.

Taking the Money (2007)

COMING top of the Petero Civoniceva debacle, revelations that Bennett had for years been accepting secret payments from billionaire club supporter Ken Talbot did nothing to enhance his standing among certain ex-players and non-supporters. Talbot said the payments, totalling $1 million over 10 years, were to provide financial security for Bennett’s two disabled children but players, who for years had accepted the coach’s reasoning that they should take less pay for the good of the team, were not impressed.

Putting Sam to hooker (2018)

THE second mistake that Bennett has owned up to in his long career was playing Sam Thaiday at hooker against the Dragons in round one of 2018. With Thaiday completely out of his comfort zone the Broncos went down 34-12, prompting Bennett to rush the injured Andrew McCullough back into the side. As major errors go, a bungled first-round selection isn’t earth-shattering but the fact that the normally inscrutable Bennett admitted to screwing up made it headline news around the country.

Coming back to the Broncos (2015)

BUT for a last-second try and an extra-time knock-on Wayne Bennett’s second coming could have been the greatest comeback since Elvis. Instead, with the Cowboys snatching the premiership that Broncos fans believed only Bennett could deliver, it has all ended in tears over the past few months. Wayne Bennett is famously a non-drinker, non-smoker and non-gambler but even he would be aware of the Kenny Rogers song that goes, “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em; know when to walk away, know when to run.” His first exit was perfect. Recent events suggest he should have left it that way.