NRL Wrap: Bennett blows up; Todd Carney keen to return; Coach defends banished Hastings
A FURIOUS Wayne Bennett stormed out of his press conference and slammed those around him after he implied they crossed the line.
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BRISBANE coach Wayne Bennett has walked out on a press conference after taking exception to questions about his future.
On the eve of the Broncos’ clash with Melbourne, Bennett would not respond to a media report claiming the Storm’s off-contract coach Craig Bellamy had not ruled out moving to Brisbane next year.
“I am coach here next year, that could change. But if you don’t want to talk about the footy I will leave it at that,” said Bennett before walking off.
“I don’t want to buy into the rubbish.
“You had Paul Green (Cowboys coach) here a month ago and now we’ve moved on.
“There is a great game of football tomorrow night, let’s talk about the footy and leave the rest to you guys to speculate.”
Bennett is contracted to the Broncos until the end of 2019 but has faced increasing scrutiny after a poor start to a season which has seen the club criticised for giving Matt Lodge an NRL lifeline after his violent home invasion in New York.
Bellamy said he had not “ruled out any option” including becoming Broncos head coach or even taking up a coaching consultancy role at Brisbane in future.
Bellamy cut his teeth as a Broncos assistant under Bennett 20 years ago. It is believed Brisbane are looking at their future options after reportedly missing out on one of their targets, North Queensland mentor Paul Green, when he re-signed with the Cowboys earlier this week.
Bennett has faced questions about underperforming halves Kodi Nikorima and Anthony Milford but when the pressure turned to his own future, the legendary coach wouldn’t stand for it.
“I’m not entering any of your speculation,” Bennett said.
“You have to get on shows and talk for hours and you have nothing to talk about, but you make it up. Whatever it is. You know more than I do. I am coach here next year as far as I know. It could change but that’s what’s happening.
“I didn’t groom Craig (Bellamy) for the job here once upon a time.
“If you want talk about the footy, I will leave it at that ... you guys have ruined it.”
— with Laine Clark, AAP
CARNEY’S ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ MOVE
Todd Carney has reportedly undergone a hair follicle drug test as he embarks on his road to be registered in the NRL again.
Carney is pushing his case to be allowed back into the league with the North Queensland Cowboys and Channel 7 rugby league journalist Josh Massoud said the former Raider, Rooster and Shark had undergone extreme lengths to prove he’s deserving of another chance.
“Carney’s had to do something that I’ve never heard of before. He had to do hair follicle testing — drug testing. He did that at a clinic in Townsville,” Massoud told B ig Sports Breakfast.
“Now obviously when you take hair it can test or detect drug use from quite a long time ago as compared to urine.
“He did that voluntarily and he did it, he complied, so that’s an interesting one, just the lengths the NRL is going to.”
Unprecedented move: @tcarney06 has been forced to undertake a hair follicle drug test as part of his @NRL registration process. Senior @nthqldcowboys players vented their frustrations with the hardline process during a meeting with @Todd_Greenberg earlier this week. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/tAWVOsrdW7
— Josh Massoud (@josh_massoud) April 18, 2018
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg says the game must learn from the lessons of the Matt Lodge affair if Carney is welcomed back.
Greenberg met North Queensland coach Paul Green and club officials on Tuesday to talk through the matter as the Cowboys continue to push for the registration of Carney’s contract.
The NRL boss is yet to make a call on whether Carney will return to the game but he hopes to meet with the 31-year-old after making an assessment in the coming weeks.
If Carney does return, Greenberg has already told Cowboys officials the lines of communication with the media and public must be open to make clear his rehabilitation.
It comes after Greenberg admitted earlier this year that Lodge should have been made to speak over the summer, where he was largely shielded from the media and unable to tell his story to the public.
“The primary lesson is about how we communicate it,” Greenberg said, while speaking at the announcement of the new Touch Football premiership on Wednesday. “And that was the discussion I had yesterday with the Cowboys guys up in Townsville.”
If Carney is registered, Greenberg has made clear there will be a number of restrictions placed on his contract.
However, he indicated it would not include a blanket alcohol ban for the former NSW State of Origin five-eighth.
Carney’s rap sheet is long and embarrassing.
It includes multiple drink driving charges, a police chase, lighting a man’s pants on fire and the infamous bubbler incident which resulted in him being sacked by Cronulla in 2014.
Greenberg said there would be conditions placed on Carney if he does succeed in returning in an attempt to avoid further issues.
“You can take it as read there will be specific conditions in his contract registration as there will be specific conditions in the club’s contract registration,” Greenberg said.
“They will be centred around ensuring the previous mistakes and behavioural issues that he’s encountered don’t happen again.”
COACH DEFENDS BANISHED HASTINGS
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has lent his support to exiled Manly utility Jackson Hastings, four seasons after he gave him his NRL debut.
Robinson handed Hastings his debut as an 18-year-old ahead of the 2014 finals series, and even placed his faith in the youngster when he opted against re-signing proven winner James Maloney at the end of 2015.
But less than three years later Hastings’ career is at the crossroads, having been dumped back to reserve grade indefinitely after Manly claimed there’d been a number of issues since his arrival at the start of last year. Hastings affirmed his “hundred per cent” commitment to returning to first grade this season when approached by reporters at training for feeder club Blacktown on Wednesday.
He also said he could work with Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans, with whom he had clashed with.
“I’m fully committed to doing whatever it takes to get back into that first grade team,” he told Fairfax Media.
The Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) are also monitoring the situation, with Manly keen to continue to offer support to the 22-year-old after coach Trent Barrett admitted he’d likely spend the rest of the year at Blacktown.
And when quizzed on the matter, Robinson admitted Hastings also had trouble fitting in with the Roosters playing group before he was released at the end of 2016.
“He obviously had some issues here at different times,” Robinson said. “The only thing I would say is it sometimes easier to forgive someone when they do commit a crime and then say sorry and come back.
“Jackson’s not a bad guy, he doesn’t do anything wrong. He’s not doing anything wrong there. Obviously he just needs to work on team environment.
“He’s not going to misbehave. He never has.”
The situation has also been particularly tough for Barrett, who has known Hastings since his teenage years.
Barrett revealed on Wednesday there had been documented issues for 12 months — including a meeting with his manager, the RLPA, and welfare officers in February — before it’s all culminated in two altercations with Cherry-Evans earlier this month.
But Robinson was confident the playmaker would have strong support base around him.
“Jackson is a strong individual,” Robinson said.
“He’s got a good family support around him, so I would say they would be supporting him strongly right now.
“His mum is a really good lady and has been there through a lot with him. She would be the main support right now.”
— with Scott Bailey, AAP
Originally published as NRL Wrap: Bennett blows up; Todd Carney keen to return; Coach defends banished Hastings