Monday Buzz: Numbers that prove Dolphins have suffered since Wayne Bennett signed with Rabbitohs

Wayne Bennett will argue that working on Souths in his spare time hasn’t interfered with his work at the Dolphins. PHIL ROTHFIELD has the startling numbers that will say otherwise.

After the first 11 rounds of this year’s premiership the Dolphins were running fourth on the competition table.

Then old super coach Wayne Bennett went and signed with the South Sydney Rabbitohs – and it’s been all downhill since.

They have lost nine of their past 12 games and plummeted to 10th on the ladder. Before that they’d won seven from 10.

Saturday night’s 48-6 loss to the Melbourne Storm showed how far this side has slipped since the great man announced his next career move.

The Dolphins have now conceded 38 points a game in the last month, an unprecedented collapse in defence from a Bennett coached team. On Saturday night they missed 60 tackles.

So the question needs to be asked … what effect has Bennett’s signing with the Rabbitohs had on the team?

The Dolphins have seen a significant slump since Wayne Bennett signed for the Rabbitohs. Picture: NRL Photos

Souths have had so many issues that Bennett has had to involve himself in.

● The decision to release Damien Cook from the final year of his contract;

● The Latrell Mitchell white substance photo scandal;

● The signing of former Manly Sea Eagles star Josh Schuster;

● The signing of back-up halfback Jamie Humphreys from Manly;

● The signing of Euan Aitken from his own club the Dolphins to join the Rabbitohs;

● Regular phone calls to caretaker coach Ben Hornby over the team’s poor form;

● Regular phone calls to a number of senior players;

● Regular phone calls to CEO Blake Solly and head of recruitment Mark Ellison.

It is almost like he has been doing two jobs at once.

Or double dipping, as they say … preparing South Sydney for 2025 onwards while trying to arrest a form slump and get the Dolphins back on track to play finals football.

I’ve said this many times before … only in rugby league can we have an employment situation like this one.

In no other business can the boss and figurehead join a rival company, start planning for next year in the new gig, but stay in your current job while the walls are collapsing.

Surprisingly the Dolphins don’t appear to have a problem with how this is unfolding.

At least they didn’t six weeks ago when I spoke to their rookie chief executive Terry Reader, who is obviously reluctant to stamp his authority and deal with this situation.

No doubt Bennett will argue that he has been working on Souths in his spare time.

That it hasn’t interfered with his work at the Dolphins.

However, their form and the slide down the premiership ladder would suggest it has been a contributing factor.

Saturday night’s 48-6 loss to the Storm was abysmal. As I said earlier … SIXTY missed tackles.

The Dolphins produced arguably their worst performance of the season against the Storm. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Bennett didn’t have a lot to say afterwards at his press conference.

He started out by saying: “I’ve got lots of thoughts but I don’t feel like sharing them.

“We had a bad night and we’ve got to move on.”

That’s all well and good but it’s probably too late.

A season that started with so many expectations is now all but over.

Next stop Redfern.

Originally published as Monday Buzz: Numbers that prove Dolphins have suffered since Wayne Bennett signed with Rabbitohs