Wayne Bennett takes sneaky dig at Broncos’ poor NRL form

Wayne Bennett’s exit from Brisbane was far from the ideal divorce so a cheeky shot at that poor early season form was always on the cards.

Former Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett might just be enjoying seeing the Broncos struggle to start the NRL season.

“Look, the CEO, the chairman and the board, I’m sure they’ve got it all under control so I wish them all the best,” Bennett said of his former club, who he had an acrimonious divorce with at the end of last season.

The South Sydney coach can afford to be a little wry.

His Rabbitohs have lost just one game over the opening month, and their one blemish was a golden-point defeat to Manly last-start.

And while the seven-time premiership-winning coach waits with bated breath on Greg Inglis’ future, his successor at the Bronco sis feeling the heat. But if Bennett felt any sympathy for Anthony Seibold, he didn’t want to voice it.

“I’ve said what I wanted to say there about it. I’ve got my own club here. I’m fairly happy at Souths. There’s a lot of work to do here yet,” he said.

“So I’m not going to put my nose in someone else’s business.”

Broncos players are dejected after losing yet again.

In contrast to Seibold, Bennett is content to be sharing the spotlight in Sydney.

Having previously coached at St George Illawarra and Newcastle, it’s the first time Bennett is in charge of an NRL team based in the harbour city.

“This is mild compared to Brisbane, generally,” he said.

“I’m not saying that facetiously, I’m saying that honestly. There’s a lot more teams here in Sydney. While we get our attention, it’s not like Brisbane.”

Inglis’ injury, as well as that of centre partner Braidon Burns, has forced Bennett to turn to Kyle Turner to spot their centre crisis.

Turner will start in the three-quarter line for the first time in his career when the Rabbitohs host the Warriors on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

It will be the first NRL match played at the roughly 12,000-capacity Sunshine Coast Stadium, which has already been declared sold out.

However the locals won’t get to see the Queensland State of Origin captain, who is weighing up his future as he battles a chronic shoulder issue.

Burns is two weeks into an eight-week recovery from a hamstring injury but Bennett is confident Turner can do the job.

“I wouldn’t put him in there if I didn’t think he was confident. He’ll do a good job for us, he’s done it a couple of timesthis year already,” he said.

—AAP

Originally published as Wayne Bennett takes sneaky dig at Broncos’ poor NRL form