Fuming Wayne Bennett breaks 18-month silence on Brisbane Broncos: ‘I will set the record straight’

Wayne Bennett has broken an 18-month silence on the Brisbane Broncos, claiming the struggling club is trying to blame him for current woes.

Former Broncos, now South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett.

A fuming Wayne Bennett has broken an 18-month silence on the Brisbane Broncos, firing back at the club that he says is trying to blame him for current woes.

The supercoach had an unceremonious departure from Red Hill at the end of 2018 despite still being contracted to the club he led to multiple premierships.

He swapped jobs with Anthony Seibold, who took the Rabbitohs to finals in 2018 then went north to take over Brisbane.

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The Broncos are currently in a five-game losing streak and pundits are calling it the worst slump the proud club has ever been in.

Earlier this week, Brisbane chairman Karl Morris suggested Seibold is merely fixing the roster Bennett left the club with.

Bennett spoke to both the Courier Mail and Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday to put his side of the story forward.

“It was my intention to remain silent, but if the Brisbane chairman or any other person at the Broncos wants to make false assertions, I will set the record straight,” Bennett told the Courier Mail.

“Assertions have been made as to the quality of the roster and the state I left the club in.

“I was prepared to coach there in 2019 and 2020 with the roster that we had at the time and I don’t think anybody in the game didn’t think we could be a top-four side.

“I’m correcting the record here. The chairman must be oblivious to the running of the club.

“If the roster was so bad, why would Anthony Seibold take the job?

“Seibold took South Sydney to a preliminary final in 2018 (before joining the Broncos). I have no doubt he thought he could win a premiership with this Broncos roster. No coach, particularly a young one, would take a job with an inferior roster to the one he is leaving. You just don’t do that.

“I did not coach or have a rundown football team at the Broncos.”

Bennett went on to claim the current roster has enough experience to be competing better than it is.

He also denied he was solely responsible for recruitment and retention during his time at the club, saying he was one of four people making roster decisions.

Originally published as Fuming Wayne Bennett breaks 18-month silence on Brisbane Broncos: ‘I will set the record straight’