South Sydney Rabbitohs want to extend Wayne Bennett’s time at club and stave off PNG interest

Souths boss Blake Solly has issued a hands-off edict to Papua New Guinea over Wayne Bennett, with the club hoping that the coach will resist interest from the new franchise and finish his career at the Rabbitohs.

Souths boss Blake Solly has issued a hands-off edict to Papua New Guinea over Wayne Bennett as the Rabbitohs close in on twin contract extensions for Cody Walker and Alex Johnston.

Bennett confirmed Walker is set to agree to terms on a one-year deal to extend his career at Souths in 2026 as the 35-year-old pivot prepares for Saturday night’s clash against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium.

In another boost for the Bunnies, speed machine Johnston, 30, will also soldier on as the PNG-born flyer sets his sights on surpassing Ken Irvine as the greatest tryscorer in the NRL’s 117-year history.

But the vexing issue is the long-term future of Bennett, with Rabbitohs hierarchy to hold talks with the super coach at season’s end amid fears the 75-year-old could be lost to the new PNG franchise.

As revealed by this masthead, the ARL Commission and Bennett have had preliminary dialogue about a possible role for the NRL’s greatest coach to ensure the code’s 19th club is competitive in its embryonic years.

Bennett is off-contract at Souths at the end of 2027, making him a free agent at the perfect time ahead of PNG’s entry to the NRL in 2028.

South Sydney want to keep Wayne Bennett away from PNG. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

But Solly remains hopeful the seven-time premiership winner will finish his career at the Rabbitohs and could even coach on for another term at South Sydney in 2028.

“We’d like to keep Wayne here beyond 2027,” Solly said.

“We can understand why Peter (V’landys, ARLC boss) and the Commission are keen to have him involved with a PNG club.

“But if Wayne wants to continue coaching, we hope it’s with us at Souths.”

Incredibly, if Bennett decides to seek another term with Souths in 2028, he would be coaching in the NRL beyond his 78th birthday.

It’s possible he could be an NRL coach into his 80s.

“Wayne has got another two years at the end of this season, so we’ll sit down at the end of this year and see what he wants to do,” Solly said.

“We’d love to keep him.

“Wayne is pretty easy with this stuff.

“He’ll sit down at the end of the year and we’ll say, ‘Do you want to stay or do you not want to stay?’

“Wayne is fantastic for this club so we’ll be guided by him.”

The one certainty is Walker will chalk-up 10 years of service at Souths next season as the former NSW Origin five-eighth looks to continue his lethal left-side partnership with Latrell Mitchell.

Walker is expected to be joined by Johnston, whose four-try haul against Melbourne last week saw him move to 206 career four-pointers, just six shy of Irvine’s record mark of 212 which many thought would never be beaten.

Walker remains off-contract and there were concerns he might retire at season’s end, but Bennett confirmed the Indigenous ace, who turns 36 in January, is not retiring just yet.

“Cody will be here next year,” Bennett said.

“We’ll get the deal done.

Cody Walker. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Alex Johnston. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

“He started later than most guys in the NRL, he was around 25 or 26, so he’s looked after himself and he is a very good trainer.”

Bennett, himself a former winger for Queensland and Australia, lauded Johnston’s finishing ability.

“Alex is remarkable,” he said.

“He has had an amazing career.

“The thing with Alex is there is no major standout quality, he isn’t the biggest guy or the most skilful, but he has great awareness and knows how to find the tryline.

“He doesn’t carry on when he scores tries, he just gets the job done.”

Originally published as South Sydney Rabbitohs want to extend Wayne Bennett’s time at club and stave off PNG interest