Now’s the time for Wayne Bennett to walk away from Brisbane, writes Gorden Tallis

I HAVE been watching the coaching saga around Wayne Bennett unfold over the last couple of months and truly believe it’s time for him to leave the Brisbane Broncos, writes Gorden Tallis.

Gorden Tallis says Wayne Bennett should leave the Broncos. Picture: Alix Sweeney

WAYNE Bennett has let a number of players go or forced them into retirement throughout his coaching career.

Wally Lewis, Glenn Lazarus, Trevor Gillmeister and Sam Thaiday are just a few names that spring to mind.

He’s done it to his coaching staff over the years too.

Some of those people I am friends with and some I have never met.

But I know he sits them down and gives them that talk, tells them it’s time to move on, whether they want to or not.

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Gorden Tallis says Wayne Bennett should leave the Broncos. Picture: Alix Sweeney

I have been watching the coaching saga around Wayne unfold over the last couple of months and now maybe it’s time for Wayne to sit down and have that talk with himself.

He might not like it.

No one likes hearing it.

But this uncertainty over his future is dragging on too long and it’s ruining Wayne’s reputation.

It’s taken him 30 years to build up his coaching career and to be regarded as one of the best in the game.

But over the last couple of seasons, more and more people are questioning whether he still has what it takes to bring a premiership to the Broncos.

Tallis says there’s no shame in Bennett retiring. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers)

If I could give him some advice, it would be to shut up and walk away peacefully.

It came out this week that Wayne and Broncos CEO Paul White are no longer talking.

In my eyes, if that relationship has broken down, it’s another sign for Wayne to walk away.

There are rumours he is trying to find a gig elsewhere, that he knows his time at the Broncos might be coming to an end.

He’s like a fighter that just keeps on fighting even when he’s got nothing left in the tank.

His record was good until he believed his own hype.

There’s no shame in retiring.

Tallis says the reported bust up between Bennett and Paul White is another sign his time has come to leave the Broncos. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Everybody has a use-by date and nothing in life is guaranteed other than death.

Everybody in the media and the public always says to me, “oh but you don’t like Wayne” as if my opinion shouldn’t count.

But it’s got nothing to do with that and that’s not entirely correct.

I saw him at a function the other night and we were chatting for a half-hour.

At the Hall of Fame I walked up and said g’day to him.

I have been watching this coaching saga unfold from the sidelines and this is just my opinion, it’s not a reflection of how I feel about Wayne.

Take the names out of it and look at the issues and it would apply to any coach who may be going one or two years too far.

I also believe that a lot of this has been created by Wayne himself.

I think Wayne can get threatened by people that will take his job and that’s playing into this too.

Originally published as Now’s the time for Wayne Bennett to walk away from Brisbane, writes Gorden Tallis