Roosters coach Brian Smith tells of his bitter feud with Dragons coach Wayne Bennett
ROOSTERS coach Brian Smith has lifted the lid on his bitter feud with Wayne Bennett ahead of the grand final.
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WAYNE Bennett is happy for Brian Smith and respects what he has achieved. Brian Smith is happy for Wayne Bennett and respects what he has achieved.
"Of course, I respect what he has done," said the Dragons mastercoach of Smith, who has taken the Sydney Roosters from last year's wooden spoon to the grand final.
"How can you not?"
Said Smith, who is yet to win a grand final in his 27 years as a first-grade coach: "Wayne's won six comps. For God's sake. Does he have to coach nude for a year?
"What more can he do to prove that there is no coach better than him?"
Yet bitter past history between the pair is something that cannot be forgotten in the lead-up to Sunday's NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium.
And, when it comes to these veteran coaches, their vexed relationship is the enduring and underlining story of this decider.
It started in 1992 when Smith was - ironically - coaching St George and Bennett was at the helm of Brisbane.
Bennett's side claimed the premiership that year.
The following season, when the two sides reached the grand final again, rugby league folklore tells you that Bennett embellished a tip sheet on the Broncos players that he had apparently received from a Dragons insider.
Brisbane won. Halfback Allan Langer infamously sang that "St George can't play". Smith was filthy and he has been chasing premiership glory since.
Speaking about the sneaky manoeuvre for the first time in 17 years, Smith told The Daily Telegraph yesterday: "I was cranky with him [Bennett] about the stuff that went on in the lead-up to and post the 1993 grand final.
"It caused a lot of aggravation for my family and the people around me.
"I was entitled to be mad about it. The tip sheet and 'St George can't play' stuff. All that stuff.
"Not all of it came directly out of Wayne's mouth. But I felt I was entitled to be mad about it. He was entitled to go along with it."
Bennett outsmarted him that year. Andrew Johns, as captain of the Knights against Smith's Parramatta in the 2001 grand final, pulled a similar stunt. It worked - and spectacularly.
"I put that down to Andrew [Johns]," Smith said. "He decided before the game at the grand final breakfast that our guys were stressed.
"My recollection was completely the opposite. It was one of the urban myths they fired themselves up on.
"Like the doctored tip sheet [in 1993]. Those sorts of things are legitimate. I'm not exempt from embellishing statements along the way. I am aware and savvy about the dirty tricks."
At this stage of grand final week, and given the manner in which they have guided their sides into the biggest game of the year, neither coach is likely to play dirty pool.
"I'm happy for him," said Bennett of Smith. "He's done a great job this year.
"He's like me and Tim Sheens. We're long-term coaches and we know how hard these [games] are to be a part of. He would be elated and he should be. It's down to two teams.
"He's had a lot of success as a coach. All these young [coaches] come and go but we've been around a long time."
The perceived acrimony between Smith and Bennett has subsided but Smith has been around long enough now to realise that it is part of the pantomime of rugby league.
While Smith is trying to secure his first premiership, after almost three decades in the game, he remarkably reveals that Bennett is also trying to write his own place in history.
"It's a good yarn - can Bennett win at another club?" Smith said.
"It's one of the challenges for any coach. Can you take your set of skills and put them in place with different people?
"Not that Wayne needs re-establishing, but it's a big challenge."
And what of 1993 and the dirty tricks that cost Smith his first premiership?
"I've had beers with Alfie [Langer] about it," said Smith. "And laughed about it since."
Asked if he is comfortable with the talk about Smith versus Bennett III this week, Smith smiled.
"That's good," he said. "I'm comfortable with all that. I understand now that there's a theatrical side to what we do.
"It's not pure footy; it's pure life."
