Rising Rabbitohs star Cameron Murray on why he’s driven to make Wayne Bennett proud
South Sydney prodigy Cameron Murray has impressed plenty of people this season. But the only opinion that matters is the coach whose success, failures and brutal honesty are driving the Rabbitohs lock to be even better.
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Cameron Murray, a few weeks back, was summoned to a private meeting with his coach. Which terrified him.
"Because the fear of disappointing Wayne Bennett," Murray concedes, "it drives me. I never want to disappoint him."
And through the first 20 weeks of this NRL season, well, Murray hadn't. Or not really.
Sure, there were a few brief conversations here and there between the pair about small defensive lapses.
"Little things that mightn't be visible from the outside,” Murray says.
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But in a year where this 21-year-old prodigy has debuted for NSW, catapulted into Kangaroo calculations and become a player even Peter Sterling calls the most influential at South Sydney … well, what the bloody hell could Bennett really want to see him about?
"It was after we played Melbourne," Murray explains, recalling the Round 21 match his Bunnies lost 26-16 at Gosford.
"During the game, I was at 'A' defender, rushed up and Cameron Smith, he kind of made a break. Went straight through.
"So Wayne was pretty filthy at me for that."
But that's it?
"Ah, there's been a couple of other tough conversations I've had with him," Murray continues, grinning.
"Just where I've been caught going outside the system (in defence) and not working with the men around me, trying to solve things by myself.
"That's something Wayne has pointed out, something I've learned from."
Something Murray has written down somewhere, too.
For this is what he does whenever Bennett says anything that resonates. He jots it into a notebook.
Like during that tough run where the Rabbitohs dropped seven of 10 games and Bennett, after first hitting his players with some home truths, then offered up a Winston Churchill quote that goes something like: Success is moving from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm.
"Although Wayne, he said it in his own way," Murray says. "And I wrote that one down.
"He says a lot of things that are memorable."
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So too, this growing partnership between two men separated by 48 years.
An improbable pairing of blokes who, while unlikely to have ever crossed paths outside an NRL bubble, are now looming as the key architects of South Sydney's 2019 NRL premiership tilt.
Which again, is no small thing considering that when Murray was born in 1998, Bennett was already on his way to winning a fourth of six NRL premierships.
A tally, coincidentally, the supercoach had completed before this newest charge of his was even finished Year 3.
Still, together, one now seems to be igniting the other.
Like Murray, for example, readying to face the Roosters this Friday night with a formline that defies his years.
Or Bennett, three weeks back, and after beating his old club Brisbane, then shimmying into the dressing rooms like an extra from Saturday Night Fever.
"Yeah, pretty good dancer when he's happy," Murray cackles.
More than that, too.
"Wayne's an honest man — brutally honest at times — and you need that," the No.13 continues. "Those hard conversations, they've been great for my growth as both a person and player.
"Wayne talks a lot about being honest with yourself. About having a purpose in life, standing for something as a man and making sure you're true to your word. They're the things I've heard from him that really stick."
Same deal that Churchillian quote.
Says Murray: "It was in the context of picking yourself up after a hard loss.
"And after a bad game, Wayne's always the one to pick you up off your knees — either individually or collectively — and really narrow your focus.
"Not only onto the next week, but onto what you need to do to be better than yesterday. He's been great for me individually.
"I know he's also helped out a lot of others over the last few weeks too. People with certain problems and certain things they haven't been happy with on and off the field."
Indeed, Murray stresses his strong form this year can be largely credited to the bloke who has been coaching first grade teams for twice the time Murray has even existed.
But as for their age gap ever being a tad, err, problematic?
"I learned a long time ago that age is irrelevant when in comes to top level rugby league," the NSW Origin star continues.
"Whether that was me playing against men as a teenager or now, having the age gap between Wayne and I, it really doesn't make a difference. If anything, the age gap drives more respect and trust.
"Wayne's someone who has been through so many different generations of rugby league, has seen it all, and is still on top of his game. He's still as motivated as ever and still caring about people like when he first started coaching.
"For me, he's an incredible man. And it takes an incredible man to do what he's done and to keep doing it."
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And still, this rising Redfern star concedes he never could have imagined all this when first hearing Bennett would replace, in a direct coaching swap, last year's mentor Anthony Seibold.
"When Wayne first came across I had no idea what to expect," Murray admits. "Because he doesn't show much through the media, I just knew of his coaching record. I had no idea of much else.
"But I knew I needed to impress him. Knew I needed to have a really good pre-season and put myself in the best position to keep improving and please Wayne. And I'd like to say I've done that."
So keep the coach dancing, right?
"It does make you happy seeing him happy," the backrower grins. "Because it means you've done your job.
"That, and you're not going to get a spray."
Originally published as Rising Rabbitohs star Cameron Murray on why he’s driven to make Wayne Bennett proud
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