Reports Broncos coach Wayne Bennett may have ‘lost’ the dressing room looking off the mark

WAYNE Bennett, at 67, could be excused for losing his car keys. Or reading glasses. But a dressing room?Well, that might be a hard one to stand up.

WAYNE Bennett, at 67, could be excused for losing his keycars.

Or reading glasses.

But a dressing room?

Well, that might be a hard one to stand up this morning.

For, no, the Brisbane Broncos weren’t exactly what you would call destructive in the NRL season opener.

But still, they beat the defending premiers.

At home.

And all while the likes of Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Corey Oates looked more than a little special.

So maybe hold off on those Supercoach obituaries for a couple of weeks, ey?

For no matter your take on the life and times of the man with seven NRL premierships, especially since his contentious stint at Newcastle, good luck suggesting his bag of fairy dust is empty.

Brisbane’s performance against the Sharks seems to refute rumours coach Wayne Bennett had ‘lost’ the dressing room.

And, no, one win does not a resurrection make. Just as this whole new question mark hanging over Bennett ... well, it’s anything but usual, too.

For normally, we talk about coaches losing their jobs. Or hair.

But rarely does any clipboard carrier even enter the heady realms required to even warrant a discussion of lost aura.

And in the case of Bennett, never.

Which also brings us, in a roundabout way, to the case of Cronulla forward Luke Lewis, who simply refuses to grow old.

Sure, he’s now 33.

Or almost 60 in NRL years.

If not quite ready for a bed at the Aged Oaks Retirement Villa, then certainly on the Zimmer frame.

And yet did you see him against Brisbane on Thursday night?

Everywhere.

Luke Lewis was in everything for the Sharks against the Broncos.

This ageing Cronulla forward not so much playing in the NRL season opener as owning it. Running angles, diffusing bombs, orchestrating tries, sweating gallons.

The greatest performance by an old guy since Clint Eastwood in American Sniper.

Indeed, when the Sharkies crossed for their first try, it was Lewis who not only ran the inside angle, but then offloaded to Jack Bird.

And when the Broncos, at stages in both halves, attacked the tryline like Schoolies do a wet bar, well, it was Lewis again diving, scrambling, tackling. Competing.

In his spare time, running decoys for whichever ball runner needed him, too.

So as for all that talk about how a premiership softens men?

Not much, mind. But enough to ensure no team has won consecutive premierships since Brisbane in 1992/93.

Well, Lewis smashed that out of the water. His only blemish coming late in the game when, along with Paul Gallen and Chad Townsend, he was beaten to the tryline by those fast feet of Milford.

Elsewhere, Andrew Fifita charged all night for the Sharkies. Halves Chad Townsend and James Maloney looking dangerous at times too.

And amongst it all, Lewis. The old bloke proving, over and over again, that he is ready to compete again this year.

Ditto Bennett.