Wayne Bennett no longer NRL’s top coach, writes Phil Rothfield

PHIL Rothfield has ranked the NRL’s current coaches — and Wayne Bennett has taken a massive slide despite his seven premierships.

WAYNE Bennett might have won seven premierships and coached in nine grand finals but he is no longer the No.1 coach in the NRL.

Not by a long shot.

Melbourne Storm’s Friday night thrashing of the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium was a massive coaching triumph for the Storm’s Craig Bellamy, who is now clearly the best in the game.

To dish out the Broncos’ worst hiding in history on their home ground without Billy Slater and Cameron Munster was just outstanding coaching.

Outside of 2010, when the Storm lost their points for salary cap rorting, the club has never missed the semi-finals since Bellamy started in 2003.

The fact he produces the results so consistently every year would rank him among the top coaches in any football code or, for that matter, any sport in this country.

Incredibly, he does it every year with rejects from rivals clubs and a recruitment nursery that is obviously superior to other clubs.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy is the best in the business.

Cheyse Blair, Ryan Morgan, Young Tonumaipea and Blake Green? Hardly superstars or household names.

Sure, they’ve got Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and a great pack of forwards but I doubt any other coach could get as much out of the roster as Bellamy has managed.

On the other hand, Bennett’s reputation has been trashed in recent years.

No one can take back the seven premiership titles. No one can deny it’s a record that will probably never be broken. Better even than the original super coach, Jack Gibson.

But that’s all history and we’re talking about rating the coaches on current form and results over the past decade.

The way he left the New­castle Knights on their knees at the end of 2014 with an ageing roster was the first sign he is no longer the super coach.

Sure, he took the Broncos to the grand final last year, but it was a side built and prepared for success by his predecessor, Anthony Griffin.

Wayne Bennett’s Broncos are battling.

The fact his side has conceded 88 points in a fortnight shows there is something drastically wrong with the Broncos.

I’ve rated Canterbury’s Des Hasler No.2 behind Bellamy, but only just ahead of Cowboys coach Paul Green,who has been the architect of unprecedented and consistent success in North Queensland.

Next best we’ve gone for Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan.

The fact he has steered the Sharks to a club record 12 straight victories and took the team into the second week of the finals last year justifies the high ranking. Especially considering what he has come back from.

Despite the Roosters’ struggles this year, we’ve put Trent Robinson at No.5 for the fact he won three straight minor premierships and a grand final in his first three years.

Next is Bennett at six and Ricky Stuart at seven, considering the rebuilding job he has done at the Raiders to lift the club into fifth position after Sunday’s amazing comeback win over the Knights.

Some might be surprised that the Warriors’ Andrew McFadden is at the bottom and not Nathan Brown.

Brown inherited an awful mess in Newcastle and has runs on the board by winning a Super League title in England.

Also, Sunday’s desperately unlucky loss in the national capital showed there is hope for the future.

Des Hasler is still a top Dog. Picture: Mark Evans

BUZZ RANKS NRL COACHES

1 Craig Bellamy

2 Des Hasler

3 Paul Green

4 Shane Flanagan

5 Trent Robinson

6 Wayne Bennett

7 Ricky Stuart

8 Michael Maguire

9 Brad Arthur

10 Anthony Griffin

11 Neil Henry

12 Paul McGregor

13 Jason Taylor

14 Nathan Brown

15 Trent Barrett

16 Andrew McFadden