NRL Finals 2021: Ivan Cleary and Wayne Bennett verdict in aftermath of Panthers v Souths clash
Ivan Cleary’s stunning post-game rant on Saturday night obviously cut close to the bone, with the NRL siding with Wayne Bennett over what is quickly developing into a thorny subject.
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NRL head of football Graham Annesley has responded to Ivan Cleary’s stunning post match rant, shooting down the Penrith coach’s accusation that Wayne Bennett had got away with manipulating the refs with his pre-match public comments.
Annesley was adamant: “I think they (the refs) are completely above it”.
This came after Cleary claimed in the fiery aftermath of Penrith’s shock defeat to South Sydney that “NRL has got to make a decision on whether they’re going to allow coaches to deliberately manipulate referees”.
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In turn Bennett also accused Cleary of igniting the pre-match war of words by “mouthing-off” to the media in a story where he called for the match officials to protect his son, Nathan, from what he feared might be an illegal South Sydney ambush.
Annesley said he has no issue with Bennett meeting with referees’ boss Jared Maxwell to discuss what the supercoach later claimed were illegal blocking tactics the Panthers had been using to stop legal kick pressure on Nathan.
“That has been our system for as long as I have been involved in the game,” Annesley explained.
“And all coaches do that.
“If we want to change the system then that is something that would have to be discussed in the offseason and it would ultimately be a matter for the Commission to determine.”
Asked if he feared coaches were getting away with manipulating the match officials, Annesley defended the game’s integrity: “I have no idea what coaches are attempting to do.
“All I know is that the referees just go out and referee.
“All of this hyperbole that goes on, that’s a matter for coaches to decide.
“All I know referees referee based on what happens on the field, not what happens off the field.
“I think they (the refs) are completely above it.
“Coaches are entitled to their opinion but it makes no difference (to the referees).
“They can only referee what they see.
“Things happen and referees react to it.
“And that is the way it is.
“It is the way it has always been.
“The way it always will be.
“They can’t be impacted by what people say.
“They are impacted by what people do.”
Earlier, Cleary conceded he had asked the NRL to provide greater protection for his son.
“I was probably guilty of trying to put our case forward this week only because I had to,’’ Cleary said.
“The NRL has got to make a decision on whether they’re going to allow coaches to deliberately manipulate referees and try and influence them.
“Coaches do it because they can. We get fined afterwards, but pre-game it’s pretty much open slather.”
Cleary also suggested refs should not be bogged down by meeting with “complaining” coaches.
“How is the referees department supposed to get better when they’re clogged with constantly having to deal with clubs complaining throughout the week,’’ he said.
But Bennett fired back, saying Clearly was “critical of himself”.
“I didn’t start the conversation publicly,” Bennett said.
“I sent some information to the referees for clarification. This happened three weeks ago.
“I wasn’t going public with anything until Penrith came out and they started the public statements and I just responded to those.
“I wasn’t going to sit back and not stand-up for my players.
“He was the one that has come out mouthing-off. So just get that in its right perspective.
“If he’s critical, he’s critical of himself.
“South Sydney had no say whatsoever until he came out and started to talk it all up.
“There’s no public manipulation. I saw an incident in a game that I didn’t like and surely it’s my right to ask the referees what the interpretation is.
“That’s what I did. That’s the process and if that’s manipulating the game, you’re all kidding yourselves.
“We should have that right. You can’t take that away from us.
“I’ve done it twice this year, that’s all I’ve done.”
Bennett vs. Cleary feud erupts in public slanging match
A verbal slanging match between rival coaches Ivan Cleary and Wayne Bennett has triggered the Penrith coach to accuse the veteran mentor of manipulating match officials.
In a bitter aftermath to the Rabbitohs stunning upset victory over title heavyweights the Panthers, Cleary has called for the NRL to fine coaches who attempt to publicly manipulate referees before matches.
That claim led Bennett to fire back with an allegation Cleary had used his former colleagues in the referees department of the NRL to gain an insight into what issues certain coaches were complaining about.
The post-match war of words emerged as a result of reports prior to the hard-fought clash that Penrith had asked the NRL for referees to provide greater protection to star halfback Nathan Cleary after being the recipient of late-shots from rival defenders.
“I was probably guilty of trying to put our case forward this week only because I had too,’’ Cleary said after Penrith’s 16-10 qualifying final loss.
“The NRL has got to make a decision on whether they’re going to allow coaches to deliberately manipulate referees and try and influence them.
“Coaches do it because they can. We get fined afterwards, but pre-game it’s pretty much open slather.
“Our boys have certainly been spoken to on the run (by referees) for stuff that we never get done for.
“The game could do itself a favour and come down on any coach who wants to try and deliberately influence a match official before a game.’’
Prior to the match, Bennett took umbrage with Penrith.
He suggested the Panthers were using illegal block plays to protect Cleary, adding the Panthers trained for the tactic and confirmed he had contacted the NRL about the issue.
“Has he been sanctioned for that (public statement)? No, he’s allowed to do it,’’ Cleary asked last night.
“It’s up to the NRL, if they don’t care, that’s fine.
“How is the referees department supposed to get better when they’re clogged with constantly having to deal with clubs complaining throughout the week.’’
Bennett fired back at Cleary, who worked as a consultant to the NRL referees during a coaching hiatus in 2016.
“I didn’t start the conversation publicly,’’ Bennett said.
“I sent some information to the referees for clarification. This happened three weeks ago.
“I wasn’t going public with anything until Penrith came out and they started the public statements and I just responded to those.
“I wasn’t going to sit back and not stand-up for my players.
“He was the one that has come out mouthing-off. So just get that in its right perspective.
“If he’s critical, he’s critical of himself.
“South Sydney had no say whatsoever until he came out and started to talk it all up.
“There’s no public manipulation. I saw an incident in a game that I didn’t like and surely it’s my right to ask the referees what the interpretation is.
“That’s what I did. That’s the process and if that’s manipulating the game, you’re all kidding yourselves.
“We should have that right. You can’t take that away from us.
“I’ve done it twice this year, that’s all I’ve done.
Asked why he believed reports emerged over the need for protection of Cleary, Bennett replied: “Ivan worked for the referees before he went back into coaching, I’ve got to assume he’s got some mates there still.’’
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM AS SOUTHS END TWO-HORSE RACE
After 35 seasons, nine grand finals, seven premierships and five clubs, Wayne Bennett’s fairytale of a grand final ending with South Sydney is more than a dream.
Without an NRL coaching contract for next season, the surreal possibility of witnessing the super coach lead the Rabbitohs in his final days to a premiership is unfolding before fans eyes after upsetting the Panthers in Townsville last night.
The boys from Redfern are 80-minutes from the grand final after advancing to the preliminary final with an inspired and hard-fought win over title heavyweights Penrith.
Earning a physically relieving week off, the Rabbitohs will play the winner of next week’s semi-final between the Sea Eagles and Roosters.
Bennett will need to conjure every ounce of his magic dust to inspire South Sydney beyond the demons of their past three seasons having been bundled out in the preliminary finals on all three occasions with losses to the Roosters, Raiders and Panthers.
But suddenly it’s more than possible given that last night, the Rabbitohs did what few experts thought they could by advancing without suspended star Latrell Mitchell. Mitchell’s replacement at fullback, six-game rookie Blake Taaffe, did everything that was asked of him.
Widely regarded as the main rivals to Melbourne for the 2021 Provan-Summons trophy, Penrith must regroup in time for a do-or-die elimination final against the winner of Sunday’s semi-final between Parramatta and Newcastle
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary will be sweating on the opinion of the NRL match review committee after State of Origin forward Isaah Yeo was placed on-report for a 63-minute crusher tackle.
Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards, a late withdrawal before last night’s clash with a foot injury, will also be in a race against time to prove his fitness.
Without quality field position for the majority of the match, the Rabbitohs found a way to defend their way to victory over one of the most devastating attacking sides in the competition.
Halves Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker and Tom Burgess from the interchange bench were outstanding.
Conversely, Penrith’s Jarome Luai played below his best while starting-props James Fisher-Harris and Matt Eisenhuth were kept alarmingly quiet by the Bunnies pack.
Both sides traded penalty goals to start the match and predictably the Panthers stole back the momentum from a Nathan Cleary’s mesmerising boot. Cleary’s floating bomb that forced Taaffe into error was the catalyst for the halfback to strike four plays later.
A sublime banana kick into the in-goal saw a chasing Paul Momorovski produce a spectacular acrobatic bat-back of the ball for Stephen Crichton to score.
Big games require the big guns to stand up and South Sydney’s response was on the back of two of the most electric players in the competition — Cody Walker and Dane Gagai.
Hunting the Panthers’ right side, it was Gagai — using his speed, power and footwork 30 metres out from the tryline — to bust through before finding a flying Walker in support.
The Rabbitohs lead 8-6 after 25 minutes but the lead was quickly whittled back to 8-8 all when Cleary converted from a Jai Arrow ruck infringement penalty.
The Bunnies scored the only try of the second-half — a smoothly executed backline shift that saw winger Jaxson Paulo cross out wide.
The Panthers rallied in the final stages of the match to throw everything at Souths but the Bunnies just kept fighting and finding a way to deny their rivals.
THE X-FACTOR BENNETT FEARS COULD TORPEDO RABBITOHS
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has labelled Tevita Pangai Jr the “complete athlete” and believes his former Broncos protege can be the X-factor that propels Penrith to this year’s premiership.
Pangai Jr will confront the super coach he regards as a personal mentor when he celebrates his 100th first-grade game in Penrith’s qualifying final against the Rabbitohs on Saturday night at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Pangai Jr was so impressed by Bennett’s man management he personally phoned him five years ago outlining his desire to be coached by the seven-time premiership mentor at the Broncos.
Now the pair are on a finals collision course, with Pangai Jr unbeaten in three games since his late-season move to the Panthers, who are banking on his blockbusting 113kg frame to inflict a third defeat on Bennett’s Bunnies in Townsville.
Erratic at Brisbane, Pangai Jr has settled in quickly at Penrith, scoring two tries off the bench in three games, and could sensationally go from a wooden spoon at the Broncos last year to a maiden premiership ring at the Panthers.
Bennett is acutely aware of Pangai Jr’s ability, having coached him in 54 games at the Broncos, and says the Tongan torpedo can be Penrith’s interchange wrecking ball in the race to the 2021 premiership.
“I’m really pleased for Tevita, it’s good to see him going well at Penrith,” Bennett said ahead of Souths’ finals opener.
“He will be off to the Bulldogs next year but going to Penrith for this short period of time has been a good move for Tevita.
“I know what is capable of. He is an X-factor for them.
“I like his all-out ability. He has tremendous ball skills, he has good footwork, he is big, very mobile, he is virtually the complete athlete as a rugby league player.
“Tevita has the God-given stuff you can’t coach.”
After Bennett fielded the unexpected call from Pangai Jr in 2016, the young gun flew from Canberra to Brisbane for clandestine talks.
Pangai Jr signed a two-year contract with the Broncos in the Virgin domestic lounge at Brisbane airport.
During his 96-game Brisbane career, Pangai Jr could be a brutal matchwinner on his day, but there were several low points, headlined by his Covid breaches last year which almost saw TPJ sacked by the Broncos.
As Pangai Jr fought to save his career at Red Hill, Bennett, who had shifted to South Sydney in 2019, was a trusted advisor.
“The next step for Tevita is to get more consistency in his game and to be happy in the right environment,” Bennett said.
“Tevita will play his best footy when he is settled and there’s not a whole heap of distractions.
“He was one of the best under-20s kids I had ever seen. Anyone with half a football brain could see his potential and ability.
“I was surprised to get the phone call from Tevita, and when he said he wanted to come to Brisbane to play under me it was an exciting time.
“He played some really good football for us in his earlier years at the Broncos.
“We’ve seen some good patches of football from Tevita in 2017 and 2018.
“He hasn’t been as good since then, but the talent is always there with Tevita … you don’t lose it.”
BENNETT’S OLD-SCHOOL PLAN TO UPSET PANTHERS
Wayne Bennett has hit out at suggestions Souths can’t win the premiership without Latrell Mitchell and will dust off his Broncos and Queensland Origin playbooks in a bid to lead the Rabbitohs to grand-final glory.
As he prepares for a remarkable 30th finals campaign, the NRL super coach outlined his blueprint to clinch an eighth premiership with a South Sydney side given no hope of title success in the absence of suspended superstar Mitchell.
Despite finishing third, just one win behind minor premiers Melbourne, the Rabbitohs are rank outsiders with bookmakers to upset the Panthers in Saturday night’s qualifying final in Townsville.
But a defiant Bennett says he can defy the premiership odds by replicating the coaching magic that saw him steer the Broncos and Queensland to silverware despite having lost marquee players in the most pressurised games of his career.
Bennett coached the Maroons to the biggest series boilover in Origin history last year, blooding 14 rookies in a triumph that has convinced the master mentor he can steer Souths to the holy grail without his brilliant fullback.
“I believe we can get the job done with Latrell,” he said.
“I don’t build individuals. I have been building teams my whole coaching career. Teams win. Individuals don’t. A champion team will always beat a team of champions.
“That has always been my mantra since I started coaching.
“We went into last year’s State of Origin series and everyone told me Queensland couldn’t win. We had a stack of big names pull out. I blooded 14 debutants. But we came together as a team and that’s the key to it, that’s what I do.
“Losing Latrell … as much as we will miss him, the bottom line is he is one part of the team.”
In his final month as Souths coach, Bennett is under mounting pressure to deliver another premiership. The 71-year-old has seven titles on his glittering resume, but accepts it has been almost 11 years — or 3995 days — since his most recent premiership with the Dragons in 2010.
The loss of Mitchell is a seismic blow to Souths’ playmaking spine, but Bennett says he has previously conquered individual setbacks and led his teams to the NRL premiership summit.
“More than once, I’ve had to overcome losing important players to win premierships,” he said.
“I remember at the Broncos, I lost big names all the time and we won premierships.
“In 1993, I lost Steve Renouf to a broken jaw and Terry Matterson in the finals and we got them back for the grand final and won it.
“We won in 2000 after Allan Langer retired (in 1999).
“I lost Shane Webcke with a broken arm for a month just before the finals in 2000 and he came back just in time to win the grand final.
“I’ve rarely coached a season where a big-name player isn’t missing at some point.
“Latrell is a wonderful player, but we still have three big players in our spine in Cody (Walker), Damien (Cook) and Adam (Reynolds).”
Souths skipper Reynolds believes Bennett‘s composure and big-game wisdom shapes as an X-factor as the Rabbitohs plot a Panthers boilover this week on their way to a 22nd premiership.
“It is important that we lean on Wayne for his experience,” he said.
“He has been coaching for a long time and obviously knows how to get up for this time of year.
“We are always facing new challenges and with his experience and calmness it always gives you a sense of belief that you can do it.”
Souths have lost twice to Penrith this year, including a 56-12 belting in round 11, but Bennett says their Dubbo debacle means nothing.
“You can’t have too many off days in this business and we can’t have an off-day like that again,” he said.
“The pressure is coming on now. We’re in the toughest period of the season, so let’s see what the guys bring.
“It’s why you play this game, to get to these moments and these places.
“You can be more disappointed at this time of the year, but you can’t have any regrets. That’s the bottom line.
“There is not many more levels for the top teams to go up. We are all playing at a pretty high standard now, so it’s all on the day at this time of the year.
“Talk is cheap. It’s the action that makes the difference, so let’s see what we come up with over the next few weeks.”
Why the three wise men click so well with generation next
So Wayne, how are those bingo nights going?
And what about the new dentures …fitting OK?
“It’s stuff like that … the dentures and bingo and all the things old people do,’’ says Souths captain Adam Reynolds about his veteran coach Wayne Bennett.
He was spotlighting the “old man’’ barbs Reynolds and Rabbitoh teammates float in Bennett’s direction.
“Behind closed doors, he loves to have a laugh about everything. He has a great personality and often does not always show it.’’
At a time when the wider world feels the communication gap between the young and old is expanding, Bennett, 71, Manly’s Des Hasler, 60, and the Melbourne Storm’s Craig Bellamy, 61, have defied societal trends by coaching their teams into the NRL top four.
Each have conjured tight connections with players including, particularly in Bennett’s case, some young enough to be their grandchildren.
So what’s their secret?
In interviewing Reynolds, Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans and the Storm’s Dale Finucane, we noticed two common threads.
The first is simply that “they care’’, which can mean Hasler being roused from his sleep soon after midnight to rush and assist a player in trouble with the law, or Bennett defending a player like Latrell Mitchell when the rest of the world has turned on him.
Then comes the quirky part.
One other common thread is the ability to accept there must be shafts of light among the relentless grind and that senior players challenging or taking the mickey out of the coach is a sign of engagement and endearment rather than estrangement.
Cameron Smith used to call Bellamy Dog Face because he felt when the coach was agitated he would foam at the mouth.
Smith is gone but Finucane says the banter still flows.
“The perception from the outside is that he (Bellamy) would be really serious – and a lot of it is serious – but he has moments mid-meeting where he will make a light-heated remark and he has individuals he will go to for that, namely Cameron Munster, Josh Addo-Carr and “The Cheese’’ Brandon Smith,’’ Finucane said.
“They will give it and they will get it.’’
Daly Cherry-Evans smiles at the very mention of Hasler’s “Mad Professor’’ nickname.
Deeply superstitious, Hasler won’t change anything while Manly are going well and has resisted a haircut to the point where his hair at the weekend’s press conference had two large “wings’’ extravagantly jutting out each side.
It gave him the rather distinctive look of a plane ready for takeoff, but such traits are rich fodder for a team still not quite sure what to make of him.
The coach, of course, does not mind this status because he know it never hurts for a mentor to have an air of mystery about him.
“It’s just his mannerisms,’’ Cherry-Evans said with an angular grin.
“The way he flicks his hair. The way he gets animated during a video session. He is who he is. It just works.
“Des brings something completely different to all of them. He always has. He always will beat to his own drum. He has done a fantastic job this year in getting the best out of our group.
“Us older boys who understand Dessie are the ones who have a giggle, but the young ones can sit there and think ‘holy s**t’? The only way it works is if a coach shows he cares. I have really enjoyed playing under him.’’
Manly’s Trbojevic brothers take the mickey out Hasler for being tight with his money and the Sea Eagles have “Des free’’ days in camp where he is not allowed to talk football with them.
A few weeks ago there was talk he was edging into team card games and starting “how’s the family?’’ chats in the hope it would lead to a football talk for a man to whom too much rugby league is never enough.
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