Wayne Bennett handshake agreement that irks St George Illawarra Dragons

Wayne Bennett has been linked with a return back to the faltering Dragons, but a damning moment from five years ago still lingers.

Wayne Bennett linked with a return to the Dragons.

Change is coming for St George Illawarra after the board told coach Paul McGregor on Thursday he wasn’t the man to lead the club any further.

McGregor’s longstanding tenure with the club will come to an end following Friday night’s game against the Parramatta Eels.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Assistant coach Dean Young will step in to the caretaker role for the remaining six games with NRL great Laurie Daley praising Young’s coaching ability.

“I got him involved with the All Stars because he was involved with Tonga and I was looking for an assistant coach and I know that the Tongan boys had a very high opinion of him and then when I got him into camp and I saw how he went about it, I was blown away,” Daley said on Big Sports Breakfast.

“His communication skills, the ability to give messages clearly, he challenged players and was able to have a good rapport with them.

“I walked away from that thinking ‘he’s got a big future’.”

Despite the high praise from Daley, calls have already begun for coaching legend Wayne Bennett to return to the Dragons.

Currently contracted with South Sydney until the end of 2021, Bennett led the Dragons to a fairytale Grand Final victory in 2010 over the Sydney Roosters.

The good old days.

Premiership-winning Dragons prop Michael Weyman declared Bennett as the ideal man to help lead the club back to glory.

“Wayne is just one of those guys who can get everyone believing in themselves,” said Weyman

“The trust from your coach and players is what builds culture.

“He is so good for the younger guys but also the older guys as well. He just develops a relationship with his players that will stay forever.”

Bennett has said he will honour his current contract with the Rabbitohs, however many believe the lure of returning to the Dragons could pry him away.

But a report from The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster says not all within the Dragons’ walls would welcome his return.

“There has been speculation for a number of months that Wayne Bennett would come back and come in as a mentor to Dean Young,” Webster said on the Big Sports Breakfast.

“But there are still people at that club who are not that keen to see the super coach come in.

“They still remember from five years ago when he reneged on a handshake agreement with Peter Doust to come back and coach the side and decided to go to the Broncos at the last moment after Lachlan Murdoch had called him.

“Some people at the Dragons are a little bit chastised about that.”

Not everyone is on board with the legend returning.

Webster believes the best way forward for the Dragons is to get their hands on a premiership winning coach or land the best assistants in the game. Sadly two top candidates have shut the door on joining the team.

“The two that I would have thought were Craig Fitzgibbon and Jason Ryles,” Webster said.

“But it has got so far down the track at the Dragons and they have become so entrenched at their respective teams, so that they are not available.

“Is Dean Young the answer? There is talk that he is very highly regarded at the club.

“The problem with Dean Young from the perspective of the fans and the members is it will be seen as someone from within again.

“If things don’t go well next year they will say he is a young rookie coach and we have to give him a couple of years.

“Then before you know it will be nine years with only a handful of finals appearances and Dragons fans and members are starting to get worn down by the lack of success.”