Sport Confidential: Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett breaks silence on Sydney rumours
Veteran Dolphins mentor Wayne Bennett has spoken out on suggestions he could return to a Sydney club as NRL head coach. SPORT CONFIDENTIAL
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Wayne Bennett has blasted suggestions he could return to Sydney to save the strife-torn Rabbitohs but maintains he is a free agent beyond next year and could coach on in 2025.
The Dolphins super coach has broken his silence on speculation a Rabbitohs powerbroker has approached Bennett to sound him out on the possibility of replacing Jason Demetriou at Redfern.
Bennett had a successful three-season stint at South Sydney, steering the club to a 2021 grand final loss to Penrith before handing the reins to his trusted assistant Demetriou, who first worked with him at the Broncos.
Bennett is furious at any suggestion he would undermine Demetriou – the man he positioned for the Souths job – in the wake of the Rabbitohs’ stunning free fall to miss the finals this season.
Bennett is contracted to the Dolphins until the end of next season and while he has not ruled out being a head coach in 2025, he has no interest in a second coming at Redfern.
The 73-year-old declined to comment specifically on Souths out of respect to Demetriou, but made it clear he has no plans to return to NSW, where he coached the Dragons, Newcastle and Souths.
“I came home to Queensland for a reason and that hasn’t changed,” Bennett said.
“I don’t have any plans to go back to Sydney.
“I am contracted to the Dolphins for another 12 months and I haven’t put all this hard work in setting the club up to walk away from it.”
Bennett will make his final address of the season at the Dolphins’ inaugural presentation night on Thursday in Brisbane.
He is expected to reaffirm his commitment to the NRL expansion club for the 2024 season, in which the Dolphins will be striving for the top eight after finishing 13th this year.
While they won’t play finals this year, the Dolphins did have a little win in finishing ahead of the Gold Coast Titans (14th) in their foundation NRL season.
Queensland’s four NRL clubs were waging a secret battle and there were plenty of Dolphins staff and players cheering on the Bulldogs last Sunday.
The Titans – who have recorded back-to-back bottom four finishes – had to beat the Bulldogs by at least 20 points to finish ahead of the Dolphins, but could only muster a 34-30 win.
That meant the Queensland power rankings for 2023 ended with the Broncos on top followed by the Cowboys (11th), Dolphins and Titans.
Bennett will hand the Dolphins coaching reins to Kristian Woolf for the 2025 season. The Dolphins are keen to retain Bennett in a lifetime consultancy role, but the seven-time premiership coach is keeping his options open.
“Who knows what I will do after that?” he said.
“I honestly don’t know, I have no idea. I could keep coaching, but one thing is I’m set in concrete here for the Dolphins for next season and that’s not changing.”
HERBIE THE STORM HEARTBREAKER
Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth has spoken about his decision to reject Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy as he prepares to sink the Storm.
Farnworth will make his first appearance in an NRL finals series when the Broncos take on the Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
But the England Test star could have easily been wearing a Storm jersey like former Bronco Xavier Coates.
Farnworth, 23, was pursued by the Storm following the darkest era in Broncos’ history where the club collected the 2020 wooden spoon and finished 14th in 2021.
Farnworth spoke to Bellamy, who sold him the Storm dream where playing finals is considered a near certainty.
But unlike Coates, Farnworth rejected the Storm’s advances and stayed loyal to the Broncos until deciding to join the Dolphins earlier this year.
Now he is gunning to snap Brisbane’s 14-game losing streak against Melbourne and secure a home preliminary final before he farewells the Broncos.
“I spoke to Craig and he is an unbelievable coach,” Farnworth said.
“I guess you could say I was close to leaving, but I chose to stay at the Broncos.
“In the back of my mind I knew I’d been through the hard times and I wanted to see it through until we were in the good times.
“It’s easy to leave a club when it’s going bad. I felt like I owed it to myself and the Broncos to see things out and hopefully help them turn around.
“There’s great coaches here and I love the city of Brisbane as well.
“There’s been a couple of clubs (interested in me) throughout the years but I stayed loyal to the Broncos, until this year when it was the right time for me to move on.”
Farnworth is an inspirational story, having left his homeland as a teenager to pursue a career in the NRL.
“I’m from a little town in England, so to be out here playing finals was a massive dream of mine,” he said.
“I used to watch it on TV all the time. I’d stay up late or get up early in the morning to watch the NRL games.
“I remember watching the 2015 grand final when the Broncos just got pipped by the Cowboys.
“To be part of finals now is pretty special.”
PAYNE’S PRISON PAIN
Broncos superstar Payne Haas has opened up about the toughest period of his life – his mum’s stint behind bars.
Haas will play his biggest game of the season so far in Friday night’s final against the Storm, but his most emotional battle has been juggling performing in the NRL with his mother’s off-field ordeal.
Haas’ mum Joan was involved in a high-speed car crash last December that led to the death of three people. She is currently behind bars after being charged in April with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, evading police and driving without a driver’s licence.
Brisbane’s No. 1 prop has tried to separate football from his family drama, but admits it has taken a toll on him at times.
“It’s not easy to deal with,” he said as he prepares for the Storm qualifying final.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve taken any inspiration from her, but everyone goes through some stuff.
“I’m not one to dwell on things much, but I want to make my mum proud and my family proud.
“Things happen for a reason. I’ve had to keep my mind straight. I have a young daughter at home and my own family at home and I have to be right for them.”
Haas’ contact with his mum, who recently shifted Brisbane prisons, is largely restricted to weekly phone calls.
“I don’t ask mum to uplift me,” he said. “She is in the slammer at the moment so I don’t need to tell her I’m going through anything at the moment. She is fighting her own battles.
“I don’t get to talk to her as much. We have a few phone calls but when we do chat, she tells me she loves me and that’s about it.”
DES GETS HIS HANDS DIRTY
New Titans coach Des Hasler has wasted no time getting stuck into preparations for the 2024 NRL season.
Hasler doesn’t officially start his new role until November, but he has spent this week at Gold Coast headquarters.
Hasler has been heavily involved in post-season reviews with Titans players and staff following another bottom four finish.
A two-time NRL premiership-winning coach, Hasler has been working hard behind the scenes so he can hit the ground running when the Titans commence pre-season training in November.
Hasler won’t be inheriting a squad short on talent, with Gold Coast having four Origin reps this year in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, David Fifita, Moeaki Fotuaika and AJ Brimson.
It is a roster that shouldn’t have finished in the bottom four of the NRL for the past two seasons.
DOLPHIN GOES FULL NELSON
It’s official. Dolphins prop Jarrod Wallace is the bravest man in rugby league.
The former Queensland Origin star has signed a deal to fight Melbourne monster Nelson Asofa-Solomona in an NRL heavyweight blockbuster next month.
Several NRL stars will take part in a fight night in Townsville on Saturday, October 7, with local Cowboys co-captain Jason Taumalolo to headline a card featuring Junior Paulo and Tevita Pangai Jnr.
But arguably the toughest assignment on the night will be reserved for Wallace, who will trade blows with Melbourne’s 135kg, 200cm giant Asofa-Solomona.
Asofa-Solomona will start short-priced favourite but the Storm enforcer is not underestimating Wallace, who won in his boxing debut on the Gold Coast in 2019.
“I believe I am taking on Jarrod Wallace,” big NAS said.
“He is not a small bloke either and I think he’s had one fight before so it’s a good test for me.
“Jarrod is a very good NRL player, he does the hard work in the middle for the Dolphins so he’s no stranger to having a go.
“I’m sure he is doing a lot of training behind the scenes, it will be good to take him on.”
TEDDY’S PAP TALK
Roosters skipper James Tedesco has emerged as a pivotal figure in Ryan Papenhuyzen’s brave injury fightback.
The duo could be finals combatants in coming weeks, but when Papenhuyzen was sidelined was a career-threatening knee injury over the past 13 months, he received unlikely support from Tedesco.
The NSW Origin maestro has had his share of injuries – he snapped his ACL in his very first NRL game in 2012 – but Tedesco is still going strong 11 years later. He backed Papenhuyzen to be around just as long.
“I had the same injury, a broken kneecap,” Tedesco said. “It took me a while to come back. I reached out to Ryan to see if he had a few questions for me.
“He bounced a few things off me. I wish him all the best for his return. It is good to see him back.
“I know Paps from our Wests Tigers days. He was coming through when I was there. I have always kept in touch with him. It is important, especially going through tough times, to reach out and see if they need any help.
“I am just glad to see him back.”
REYNO’S RABBIT PUNCH
Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds has launched a passionate defence of his one-time Rabbitohs teammates Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell.
Souths are a club under siege following their shocking collapse to miss the finals, a free fall that reached a flashpoint a fortnight ago when assistant coach Sam Burgess sensationally quit.
Burgess allegedly butted heads with coach Jason Demetriou, claiming Walker and Mitchell were getting preferential treatment and having too much say in the running of the club.
Reynolds played six seasons with Walker and two with Mitchell before his move to Brisbane last year and scoffed at suggestions they wield too much power at Redfern.
“I don’t know how the place is being run at the moment, but I know the two individuals and I know they are passionate,” former Souths captain Reynolds said.
“I am no longer involved there, I haven’t been there for two years, and they have a different culture to when I was there.
“But I know Cody and Latrell care about winning and they will do whatever it takes to win.
“You only have to see through their performances that they play with their heart on their sleeve.
“Sometimes it can get out of hand, but that’s where the likes of Cam Murray (new captain) step up.
“They might have a trigger word, I’m not too sure, to get them back in the game.
“Obviously their confidence is down a little bit. I’m only just a spectator looking in now. I still talk to some of the players still and while I don’t know the ins and out of everything, I do feel for them as mates.
“You always want to see your mates do well and succeed, it’s not ideal the way they finished.”
WALSH’S SOCK SECRET
We have unmasked the reason behind Broncos fullback Reece Walsh’s strange socks phenomenon.
Walsh cuts the feet out of his Broncos socks and wears them over the top of his self-branded “RW” socks during games.
He can regularly be seen with a set of pink socks on and his Broncos team socks over the top.
That’s because the “RW” socks have special grip pads on the soul to prevent your foot slipping in boots.
Walsh doesn’t like the standard Broncos socks, believing his feet slip and crush his toes due to his explosive speed.
So he wears his favourite socks underneath and puts his team socks over the top to appease the NRL.
MCLEAN’S NEW DEAL
Veteran Cowboys prop Jordan McLean is on the verge of extending his career at North Queensland.
McLean has a one-year contract extension offer on the table for the 2024 NRL season from the Cowboys and is expected to make an imminent decision.
McLean, 31, has been a consistent performer for the Cowboys over the past couple of years and is expected to remain at the club after recently celebrating his 200th NRL appearance.
HOFF IS OFF
Former Broncos star Josh Hoffman has called time on his rugby league career.
Now 35, Hoffman played 109 NRL games for the Broncos between 2008-14 before stints at the Titans and Parramatta. He scored 62 tries from 189 top-grade games and managed five Tests for New Zealand before finishing his career in the Queensland Cup with Townsville.
The cousin of Dane Gagai and Ben Barba, Mackay product Hoffman was a powerful winger, fullback or centre who went close to play State of Origin during his time at the Broncos.
“My time has come to an end and I have finally announced my retirement from rugby league,” he said on social media.
“Firstly I would like to thank everybody who has been involved and played a part in supporting me along this journey. I’ve met so many wonderful people and made some really close friends along the way.”
JAI JUMPS OFF CANVAS
He is the forgotten superstar of Australian boxing.
But after more than a year out – or 456 days to be precise — Jai Opetaia is finally returning to the ring to defend the IBF cruiserweight world title he won last year on the Gold Coast.
Opetaia (22-0) will face fellow unbeaten British star Jordan Thompson (15-0) in his first fight since July 2022, when he bravely overcame a broken jaw in two places to shock Latvian world champion Mairis Briedis.
Opetaia has endured a lengthy legal battle and injury, but is ready to defend his world title at Wembley Arena in England against 198cm monster Thompson.
It is understood the world-title bout is set to be screened live on Fox Sports in what shapes as the biggest payday of Opetaia’s career.
FOX SAVES Q-CUP FINAL
Fox League has come to the rescue of Queensland’s top rugby league competition and will broadcast next weekend’s Hostplus Cup grand final.
The premiership decider at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium on September 7 will be broadcast on Fox League and Kayo from 5pm after Channel 9 abandoned the game.
The QRL’s showpiece senior men’s grand final will also be available live and free on Kayo Freebies.
Fans with a keen eye for following Queensland’s emerging talent can tune into Qplus.tv, as well as Kayo Freebies, to catch all of the excitement from 3.15pm for the Hastings Deering Colts grand final before the Hostplus Cup game kicks off at 5.30pm.
The grand finalists in both competitions will be locked in after this weekend’s preliminary finals.
In the Hostplus Cup, Burleigh Bears play the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and the Brisbane Tigers go up against the Central Queensland Capras.
QRL competitions manager David Maiden said it was shaping up to be a sensational weekend of rugby league.
“All the teams involved in this weekend’s preliminary finals are in great form, and those that get through to the big day on Sunday week will certainly be part of something special,” Maiden said.
“Kayo Stadium is a brilliant ground to watch rugby league from. If you haven’t yet experienced QRL grand final day at this venue, I’d certainly encourage you to snap up a ticket now so you don’t miss out.”
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