NRL 2024: Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett says he has had nothing to do with South Sydney’s resurgence

The Rabbitohs have gone on a five-game winning streak since announcing Wayne Bennett will return to Redfern, but the Dolphins coach insists he’s had nothing to do with South Sydney’s resurgence.

Wayne Bennett insists he has had nothing to do with South Sydney’s turnaround as the incoming Rabbitohs coach prepares to face his future club with the Dolphins’ top four hopes on the line.

Bennett will lead the Dolphins into Thursday night’s clash with Souths at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium desperately needing a win to stay in the premiership hunt.

The Dolphins have lost four of five matches since Bennett was officially confirmed as Jason Demetriou’s replacement at Redfern on May 21.

In contrast, the Rabbitohs have won their past five matches to rocket from the bottom of the ladder into finals contention.

The Wayne Bennett a tug-of-war. Art: Boo Bailey

Bennett has been criticised for neglecting the Dolphins and planning for his Redfern return, but the seven-time title winner said it was South Sydney’s staff and squad that had instigated a Rabbitohs revival.

“They’ve really turned their season around,” Bennett said.

“It’s a great credit to Ben Hornby (interim coach), he’s done a great job. I always had a great deal of respect for him and enjoyed what he brings.

“I want him to make his own calls. We have similar thoughts. We’ve been together a long time. He knows what I want and I know what Ben brings.

Wayne Bennett returns to teh Burrow next year.

“I’m not doing very much at Souths at all. I haven’t been near the club or anybody.

“We got a deal done. I’m coaching the Dolphins and that’s my priority.

“They’ve got a club to run this year, have good people and they’ve turned their season around.

“They’re all happy there at the moment. They’re turning up and playing well.

“All players need to be at a club that knows where it’s going. The Dolphins have got that and Souths have got it back and you can see the players play to their potential.

“That’s how it works. It can’t work any other way.

“I can’t run two clubs, that doesn’t work. I’ve been very committed to here.”

Bennett’s second coming at Souths will see him return to the club he guided to the 2021 NRL grand final.

Bennett spent three successful seasons at the Rabbitohs from 2019-21 before being appointed coach of expansion club the Dolphins ahead of their 2023 launch.

The Rabbitohs lost their way following Bennett’s departure and former club chief Shane Richardson believes the super coach can guide the pride of the league back to the top.

“I’m pleased to see Wayne back at Souths,” said Richardson, who signed Bennett from the Broncos in 2018.

“He will get them going quickly. He has a good team there, he has big names and he drives strong discipline, so I believe Souths will be a real force next year.

“Wayne pretty much gets a free rein, but in saying that he is very respectful. He has respect for good management. He doesn’t have respect for management that is bad.

“Souths’ front office is great. Blake Solly is an experienced CEO and Russell (Crowe, co-owner) has great trust in Wayne to do the job.

“He is the best coach in the game. Craig Bellamy is right up there as well, they are the two best coaches in the game, it’s as simple as that.”

Richardson believes Bennett begrudgingly left Souths following the 2021 grand final loss to Penrith and will return next season at age 75 with unfinished business.

“Wayne wasn’t going to stay on the first time, he knew that,” he said.

“We knew the plan. The board had made a decision for Jason Demetriou to replace Wayne and he was fine with that.

“I have no doubt Wayne probably wanted to stay on, but he did the right thing by Jason and he acted it out accordingly.

“It really hurt him to lose that grand final in his last game at Souths. That was his chance to go out on a real high and they should have won that grand final.

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has distanced himself from South Sydney’s resurgence. Picture: NRL Imagery

“Having said that, he left Souths on a good note and I have no doubt coming back, he will return with even more support and can bring another premiership to Souths.”

The Dolphins crafted a similar succession plan which will see Bennett vacate at season’s end and be replaced by assistant Kristian Woolf.

With the Dolphins on the rise under Bennett, and him keen to continue head coaching, it raises questions about why he is leaving Redcliffe to return to Sydney.

But Dolphins CEO Terry Reader said the club wanted long-term certainty and Bennett, 74, couldn’t guarantee his future plans when he took charge of the NRL’s 17th franchise in late 2021.

“This was always part of the plan we locked in over two years ago,” he said.

“Wayne was honest and said that he didn’t know if he wanted to coach past his 75th birthday and said he wouldn’t know that until we are in the 2024 season.

“He said we can’t wait until then for him to decide. We worked out a plan and he was part of driving it.

“As Wayne has also said, we can’t regret it because we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now if we didn’t do it.

“Selfishly, we would have liked him to have got the New Zealand Test job and still work within our pathways and as an ambassador for the club.

Terry Reader (L) with Wayne Bennett. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“But Wayne has been upfront from day one. We wouldn’t be in this position today without Wayne and we wouldn’t have had Kristian Woolf as an assistant ready to take over.

“We wish Wayne well at Souths. He leaves a legacy at our club and we will forever be indebted to Wayne.

“The talk about a conflict of interest is nonsense. At the end of the day, Wayne is a winner. His focus is on taking the Dolphins to the finals and going as far as we can go.

“Wayne always said he wanted to help build the club to be set up for success and he wants to go out with a bang here.”

After starting the year on fire, the Dolphins (8-7) have slipped to sixth and are in danger of losing touch with the top four if they continue their recent poor form.

It would be a failure for the Dolphins to miss the finals given the way they started the season, but Bennett believes they aren’t far off finding their best form again.

“It’s going to be a difficult task (against Souths) but we’re playing at home and are in pretty good shape ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve got some missing but so do they, so it probably equals out.

“I don’t think we’ve had a lull. We just haven’t played well in the second half in a number of games.

“We’re playing quality teams. We can be a bit better and need to be, but I’m not disappointed in their efforts.”

Originally published as NRL 2024: Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett says he has had nothing to do with South Sydney’s resurgence