NRL 2020: Wayne Bennett and Paul Vaughan slammed for biosecurity breaches

The rugby league world has turned on legendary coach Wayne Bennett over his biosecurity breaches, blasting the veteran’s “arrogance”.

The NRL community has voiced its disappointment after veteran coach Wayne Bennett broke the league’s coronavirus biosecurity rules and have been stood down for two weeks of “COVID-hold”.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs coach confirmed The Daily Telegraph’s report he dined at an Italian restaurant in Sydney’s inner-west on Wednesday with a woman believed to be his partner.

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Bennett claimed he didn’t know he was breaching the NRL’s strict protocols, which ban players and coaches from visiting public places.

Bennett will now miss the Rabbitohs clash with his old club the Brisbane Broncos and next week’s game against the North Queensland Cowboys with assistant coach Jason Demetriou taking control of the team.

Former Queensland star Billy Moore wasn’t copping Bennett’s excuses.

“How is that possible? How can the most experienced coach in the competition not be aware of it?” Moore told Mark and Caroline on 92.7 Mix FM.

“Wayne Bennett went on the attack saying, ‘I’m the victim here. The rules have changed, I didn’t know the rules had changed’.

“I coudn’t believe the arrogance that came through from Wayne Bennett ... almost like, ‘The rules don’t apply to me’.

“We saw the real character of Wayne Bennett, which is disappointing.

“What we saw, when attacked for doing something wrong, we saw the dark side of Wayne and I thought it was very poor.”

NRL 360 host Ben Ikin said: “I think it was so irresponsible, if anyone you think was going to set the right example for an entire code it would be the game’s most experienced coach.

“Instead he turned up at a press conference today having been caught out … at one point he was confused, he was uncertain about the rules.

“I think he ended the press conference calling a journalist small minded.

“It felt a bit arrogant to me, he made the mistake and should have just fessed up and you know admitted almost to struggling living in the bubble and he broke out of it.

“Because there’s no way known based on the phone calls I’ve made today that there is not a single NRL employee, player, coach whoever that is inside the bubble at the moment who does not know those rules.”

Wayne Bennett pictured with his partner Dale Cage.

It was a bad day for breaches with Dragons and NSW prop Paul Vaughan was also stood down for 14 days after eating breakfast at an Illawarra cafe.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor was furious at his star player, calling him “selfish” after a 24-16 defeat against the Roosters on Thursday night.

“That’s disappointing. That’s very disappointing,” McGregor said.

“We’re well aware of what our responsibilities are. We talk about it consistently, so there’s no reason for it other than it was selfish behaviour really.

“It’s not what you need from one of your senior players, someone that’s important to your footy team.

“We’ve got to move on, we did tonight. Unfortunately we didn’t get the win which we really needed this time of the year.

“I haven’t spoken to him. We’ve got a WhatsApp group and I explained the punishment that’s been handed to him by the NRL, then concentrated on what we needed to do today.

“It’s just a behaviour that you shouldn’t do.

“We spoke about (doing) whatever it takes and doing the right thing by one another, making sacrifices and that’s just one of them.

“It’s disappointing if it was anyone.

“The game’s done a lot to get back going so we’ve got to be respectful of that.”

Newcastle Knights star Kalyn Ponga was also reportedly being investigated for a biosecurity breach, having been seen at a Japanese restaurant on the weekend. But he was soon cleared of any wrongdoing as he was waiting for a takeaway order.

UPDATE: NRL Ponga cleared of any bubble breach. He was getting takeaway and his time in restaurant with teammates was just waiting for food. https://t.co/bwH3KwyC2u

— Danny Weidler (@Danny_Weidler) August 6, 2020

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys blasted Bennett and Vaughan on Thursday afternoon: “They should know better … They are jeopardising their own futures for the next two seasons and they’re jeopardising future generations of the game of rugby league.”

But it was just the start as the rest of the NRL world took aim at the pair.

Nine News sports journalist Jelisa Apps delivered a scathing assessment of Bennett’s actions.

“Bennett saying the rules/protocols are confusing. Spare me,” Apps tweeted. “If I was on $800,000+ a year I reckon I could stay on top of what I can and can’t do. There’s a lot of people on a lot less who need this game to keep going. People make mistakes FOR SURE. But the excuses I can’t.”

The Daily Telegraph reporter Buzz Rothfield felt similarly.

“I’m dirty that he put the entire game at risk then claimed he didn’t know the rules,” Rothfield tweeted. “Rich from someone who was on Project Apollo.”

Channel 9 reporter Danny Weidler theorised Bennett would most likely spend seven days in isolation, even if he returns a negative result.

Wayne Bennett talking to media.

ABC Grandstand journalist Jon Healy blasted Bennett for attempting to shift attention towards reporting around the incident.

“Wayne Bennett says he got told, ‘Someone had made me a headline’. Ffs. How is this one the media’s fault?” Healy tweeted. “If he broke the rules, he broke the rules. It’s not the fault of the papers for reporting it.”

The Age sports journalist Daniel Cherney cheekily tweeted: “In the most 2020 thing ever I just listened to seven minutes of Wayne Bennett being asked about his lunching habits.”

The Australian’s sports editor Wally Mason also tweeted: “Last time I looked he was one of the blokes coming up with the rules. If he doesn‘t understand them, who does?”

Bennett follows in the footsteps of Bulldogs player Aiden Tolman, Panthers rookie Charlie Staines and Knights star Bradman Best who both missed games for COVID-19 breaches.