Monday Buzz: Wayne Bennett actively coaching South Sydney - and it’s damaging the Dolphins

Wayne Bennett is partly responsible for South Sydney’s recent revival, even offering coaching advice from 900 kilometres away - and the Dolphins are paying a major price, writes PHIL ROTHFIELD.

Wayne Bennett Coach. Picture: NRL Photos

Rugby league today is a big business and there is no more respected figure than Wayne Bennett.

But can the great man have two jobs at once?

The seven-time premiership coach is now entering his final few months at the Dolphins before heading back to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Since announcing his move, the Dolphins have lost three of their past four games.

At the same time his new team Souths have won four in a row, playing the football we expected from them at the beginning of the year.

There is no doubt Bennett, from 900km away, has had a huge influence on the Rabbitohs’ revival in recent weeks.

The Dolphins play the Rabbitohs in three weeks’ time at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe. It will be interesting.

Interesting, because every time you pick up the paper a Souths player is talking about the positive effects from recent chats with the Dolphins coach.

Is Wayne Bennett juggling duties between two clubs at the moment? Picture: NRL Photos

Skipper Cameron Murray said over the weekend: “It was good to hear from him. He’s always good to chat with. In dark times he always shares some good advice.”

And then Damien Cook on his exit from Souths: “I spoke to Wayne and he told me to do what’s best for me and my family. He wasn’t trying to push me out.”

Fox Sports’ James Hooper even revealed last week that Bennett had spoken to interim coach Ben Hornby and suggested moving Keaon Koloamatangi from the edge to the middle.

He has been outstanding ever since.

In another interview in Nine Newspapers, superstar Latrell Mitchell spoke of a phone call four weeks ago from Bennett.

“I’m coming back, mate,” Bennett said. “I need ya,” Mitchell responded, to which Bennett replied “yes, yes you do.”

The Rabbitohs are turning their season around. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

All this could leave a perception that the great man is doing two jobs and has his fingerprints on both clubs.

Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader insists he has no problem with it. “Wayne’s got one job and that’s coaching us,” Reader said. “He’s just concerned about the team performing each week. We’re not worried about it at all. We’ve got Kristian Woolf looking after our planning for next year and beyond.”

Still, it could be seen as a difficult juggling act.

There is no question he is already involved in recruitment for Souths.

It was Bennett who approved the release of Cook from the final year of his contract to join St George Illawarra.

In the same week Dolphins star Euan Aitken announced he was quitting the club to join Bennett at the Rabbitohs next year.

Now imagine this happening in another business.

Let’s use retail as an example.

The Dolphins have lost three of their past four games. Picture: NRL Imagery

If the boss of Myer quit to join David Jones they wouldn’t be ringing DJs staff about planning for the Boxing Day/New Year sales.

The boss would be packing up their office and leaving straight away, possibly even alongside a security guard.

The same with any major company.

Rugby league, as we said in the first paragraph, is a big business as much as sporting entertainment.

While the Dolphins continue to lose and Souths continue to improve, the chatter around Bennett will not go away.

It is only in rugby league that a coach can announce he is joining a rival franchise and start preparing for his next job while still on the payroll of his current employer.

In fairness the Dolphins are not playing that poorly … but they are not winning. And in this business that is NRL football, the scoreboard is all that counts.

Originally published as Monday Buzz: Wayne Bennett actively coaching South Sydney - and it’s damaging the Dolphins