NRL: Wayne Bennett calls out Penrith’s illegal block plays to protect Nathan Cleary

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has set the scene for Saturday’s qualifying final against Penrith by accusing the Panthers of breaking the rules.

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has set the scene for Saturday’s qualifying final against Penrith by accusing the Panthers of breaking the rules with illegal block plays. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has hit out at Penrith for using illegal block plays to protect playmaker Nathan Cleary, accusing the Panthers of training for the tactic and confirming he has contacted the NRL about the issue.

Bennett has set a fiery scene for Saturday night’s qualifying final against the Panthers after accusing the mountain men of exploiting the rules by deliberately shielding Cleary from oncoming defenders.

The super coach’s passionate plea comes as Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has asked the match officials to protect his son.

Bennett, though, believes it is Penrith doing the wrong thing, as shown during Souths’ round 25 loss to the Panthers.

The veteran mentor identified three Cleary kicks during that clash when the Panthers illegally blocked Rabbitohs players from putting on any pressure on.

Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary is at the centre of a drama between South Sydney and the Panthers about illegal blocking plays. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“So, Nathan was untouched in that game, and we couldn’t get near him,” Bennett fumed.

“And it has been going on for quite a while and the game has got to address it.

“It is illegal.

“They (Penrith) will say they are just going on another kick chase. They are not going on a kick chase. They are moving sideways, backwards and they are making contact with shoulders and hands.

“The bottom line is that we haven’t been able to get near Nathan and his kicks because our kick chasers are blocked by illegal blockers.

“I asked for some direction from the NRL in recent times as to what our position was and what was allowable and not allowable.

“Because at the moment there is no doubt that it is illegal what they do, and you need to go and look at the vision – it is all there for you to see.”

Bennett believes Penrith purposefully practise the blocking ploy.

“And I’ll finish it off by saying from a very reliable source that they practise it at training, so it is a tactic that they use,” he said.

“If you watch their games, you will see it time and time again.

Cleary’s kicking game tormented Souths when the teams last met. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“They are running blocks and they interfere with guys putting kick pressure on and there has been no action taken.

“They might not see it as cheating – I don’t know – you’d have to ask them that question.

“But they will be lying to you if they tell you that they don’t practise it.

“You see the players going into position, so you know it is a trained thing.

“But we run a half-baked block in that game, and we get penalised for it.

“I’m not suggesting they cheat. I’m just telling you what they practise at training.

“It (the block play) has also happened before in Origin involving their players as well last year when I coached, but they are setting up blocks.”

Bennett points out that block plays are allowed in the NRL, but the player must be stationary unlike the Penrith players he claims that are moving to prevent a rival player from putting pressure on a playmaker.

The super coach expects the referees to monitor the blocking play, declaring Souths will retaliate if they are on the receiving end of a block against the Panthers.

“They know what is happening and they know there will probably be a response to it from our point of view if we are blocked in the game,” he said.

Asked what that response would be, a blunt Bennett said: “You’ll have to turn the TV on and have a look tomorrow night.”

The master mentor was more talkative about his anger that his “private” meeting with the NRL about Penrith’s blocking tactic had been leaked.

“I’m not disappointed with the NRL or anybody, but what I will say is that you go to the NRL in privacy and do it without talking to any media and then all of a sudden you (the media) is getting a fair bit of information about it,” he said.

“That is what disturbs me most about all this stuff.

“We’ve got no confidentiality our game whatsoever – and I think it is pretty poor.”

Meanwhile, Bennett also confirmed “Queensland always interest me” amid speculation about an Origin coaching recall.