Coaching rivals Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy face off again
RIVALS Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett face off again this weekend but who is the better coach? Paul Crawley delves into the intriguing match-up.
NRL
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THIS rivalry between the NRL’s two oldest coaches started on a cross-country course.
In many ways, it probably tells us as much about the intense competitiveness that still exists between Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy two decades on.
It’s not simply about wanting to be the best.
But what it takes to stay at the top, even when you hear footsteps pounding in the background.
This goes back to the late 1990s, when Bellamy was still cutting his teeth under Bennett in Brisbane.
Bellamy had been coaching lower grades at Canberra when Kevvie Walters suggested Bennett should bring Bellamy to the Broncos.
“I coached him in 1987 when I was at Canberra,” Bennett recalled ahead of Friday night’s clash between Brisbane and Melbourne.
“Then we’d lost our conditioner at the Broncos and Kevvie was still good mates with Craig in Canberra.
“Kevvie reckoned he would be great for the place.”
Along with an extremely smart football brain, Bellamy shared another passion with Bennett.
“We both liked our running,” Bennett said.
“So that was a bit of an issue, both of us trying to beat each other.”
Knowing Bellamy was “a bit quicker than me”, Bennett devised a plan.
“We were up at the army camp at Caloundra one off season,” he said.
“They have a pretty good cross country course up there, it was about 7 or 8ks, a really true cross country course.
“Anyway, I made a few rules to suit myself and I just beat him home.”
Bennett wouldn’t go into what rules he needed “to bend” to beat Bellamy, but admitted with a laugh: “I was pretty happy with that.
“We were pretty competitive with each other. Nothing ever got out of hand. We had a lot of fun together.
“We won premierships, went overseas, we did a lot of stuff.”
And haven’t they both done some stuff since?
Friday night will be the 31st time they have coached against each other in the NRL.
Bellamy holds a sizeable 20-10 split of previous outcomes, but overall it is a much closer contest.
Bellamy has won 67.4 per cent of the 383 NRL games he has coached to Bennett’s 62.1 per cent of 776 matches.
They are both incredible records.
But given Bennett has coached more than twice as many games (and that is not including the 11 years he coached previously in the Brisbane competition) it is remarkable that the now 67-year-old remains anywhere near the top to the game.
Just look at the ages of the other NRL coaches today. Behind Bellamy, who is 57, comes Des Hasler and Neil Henry at 56. Then it is Shane Flanagan who is 51, Ricky Stuart and Anthony Griffin both 50.
Paul McGregor is 49, Ivan Cleary 46, Steve Kearney 45, P aul Green 44, Brad Arthur, Nathan Brown and Michael Maguire all 43. Trent Robinson 40, Trent Barrett 39. That makes Barrett 28 years young than Bennett, 18 years younger than Bellamy.
So what is the secret to staying relevant in a game that is always changing course at such a fast pace? As Bennett mastered all those years ago, it’s about being as smart between your ears as it is fast on your feet.
While most experts tipped Melbourne to be up there again this year after making the grand final last year, few predicted the Broncos would even be in the hunt.
The talk was Bennett had not only lost his aura but the Broncos dressing room as well.
Yet here they are heading into Friday night’s round 17 clash and the Broncos are looking extremely dangerous in third spot behind Bellamy’s Storm who lead the way.
While Bennett will never win a popularity contest, there is no doubt he is still a genius when it comes to coaching football teams.
And often undervalued is his ability to get the best out of individuals.
Bellamy is revered for his ability to turn around the careers of players who looked washed up at other clubs.
Bennett is rarely credited for similar success.
But just look at this current Broncos side, Adam Blair and Benji Marshall are two prime examples.
At the Wests Tigers Blair was run out of town, as was Marshall, who looked even further away from his prime when he was at St George Illawarra last year.
People often say great coaches make great players.
As Bennett and Bellamy have shown over many years it goes the other way as well.
Trying to judge the best coach of all-time is like comparing Andrew Johns to Johnathan Thurston.
It will always come down to an individual opinion.
As for the Bennett v Bellamy debate? Many will say Bellamy has now over taken Bennett as the best coach in the game.
For me, I reckon great is great. And it doesn’t matter who wins Friday night.
It is just a privilege that the game’s two oldest coaches are still going neck-and-neck, two decades after they first squared off on that cross country course.
CHERRY-EVANS DESERVES ANOTHER SHOT FOR MAROONS
WHAT does Daly Cherry-Evans still have to do to convince Kevvie Walters he deserves another shot at Origin?
Let’s put it this way, the Manly skipper couldn’t do more than he already has.
And it’s not just about the football he is playing, but the football Manly are playing. As a team.
Trent Barrett went to bat for his polarising halfback after the win over Cronulla last Sunday when he said “I wouldn’t swap him for anyone”.
Barrett added that Cherry-Evans “is our side … he is our leader”. That comment might scare Queensland, but it needs to be taken in context.
In the past the knock on Cherry-Evans was that he played for himself and not the team. That was certainly the implication after his last game for Queensland in 2015 when Johnathan Thurston, without mentioning names, offered up this analysis of why Cooper Cronk was so right.
“Coop is great at a lot of things out there but, playing beside him, one of the things I have grown to appreciate is his ability to not just take charge of a game when he needs to but also the way he knows when to step back and let other guys do their thing,” he said.
Thurston added that “we don’t rely on one bloke to win us the game. We’re at our best when we’re able to get everyone involved in the game and I think at this level that’s what I have learned is the job of your halves”.
The point I make is that you’d have to say as much as any team in the NRL right now, the Sea Eagles are a side that plays for each other, more so than any individual.
Surely that has to be a reflection on Cherry-Evans’ leadership and how he has changed.
When Kieran Foran left the Sea Eagles you would have been hard pressed to find a fan that would have chosen Cherry-Evans ahead of Foran.
You’d like to run the same poll ahead of Manly’s clash with Foran’s Warriors this Saturday.
Maybe that also tells Queensland what they need to know.
PURE MADNESS AS DESPERATE CLUBS OFFER SILLY MONEY
THE pressure on young players in the NRL will only continue to grow with the silly money that is being offered by desperate clubs.
This week Connor Watson was reportedly offered somewhere between $500,000 and $600,000 to ignore Newcastle’s advances and play with the Wests Tigers next year.
If that is the case then this 21-year-old utility who has only started 10 NRL games for the Roosters will be paid as much, if not more, than Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull next year.
Only days ago it was reported Turnbull’s salary had increased to $527,000.
So does that make playing fullback for the Tigers a tougher job than running Australia?
Or is there something seriously out of balance with what some clubs are paying young players today?
Let’s remember Watson has never started an NRL game at fullback.
So if things go bad at the Tigers (if he chooses them over Newcastle) should we blame the player, or the club for putting him in such a ridiculous position?
In fairness, Newcastle have done the same with young Kalyn Ponga who is getting similar coin to try and save Newcastle.
It’s just madness.
Right now the Rugby League Players’ Association is in a battle with the NRL to try and get the players a bigger slice of the revenue in the CBA, and clubs are also fighting for a cap increase.
But how can clubs justify paying this sort of money to players when crowds are at their lowest since 2004?
Only 6000 people turned up to watch the Tigers lose to Gold Coast last week at Campbelltown.
While I have no problem with any player getting as much money as they can, given the career of any NRL player can be over as quick as it starts, surely the clubs have to be more mindful of the pressure they are putting these young players under.
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