NRL finals: Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett blasts Penrith’s ‘illegal’ bombing tactics

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett and rival Panthers number Ivan Cleary have added some real heat to their finals battle as Nathan Cleary’s bombing game comes under attack.

Rabbitohs Head Coach Wayne Bennett

Wayne Bennett and Ivan Cleary have lit the fuse for an explosive finals battle on Saturday night with the rival coaches going hammer and tongs over the Penrith’s controversial kick-blocking tactics.

With Nathan Cleary’s trademark floating bombs sure to rain down on South Sydney’s back three on Saturday night, Bennett claimed Penrith illegally obstruct defenders in order to allow the halfback to launch his kicks.

“The bottom line is we haven’t been able to get near Nathan and his kicks because we are getting blocked,” Bennett said.

“Our kick chasers are getting 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 what wasn’t allowable.

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Wayne Bennett has accused Penrith of illegally obstructing defenders in order to allow their star halfback to launch his kicks.

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

“They practise it at training. It’s a tactic they use. If you watch their games, you’ll see it time and time again.

“It has been going on for quite a while, the game has to address it at some stage because now we have made it public. It is illegal.”

The Rabbitohs struggled to diffuse Cleary’s kicking game in a 25-12 loss to Penrith last month, with Latrell Mitchell and Josh Mansour failing to get near his nightmarish bombs.

The Daily Telegraph, with the help of Fox Sports Lab, has identified at least eight different kicks in Cleary’s arsenal, with his unpredictable floating bomb undoing Souths last time.

He also deploys a kick that can curl around the goalposts, a little dink that turns defensive lines inside out, an outside-foot grubber, a huge attacking bomb that lands with pinpoint accuracy and, of course, his 40-20 kick that can turn momentum, and possession around in an instant.

Cleary’s array of attacking kicks is one of Penrith’s deadliest weapons, and Bennett has put the onus on the referees to give his team a fair chance of stopping the NSW playmaker.

Bennett raised three specific instances where his team was denied a shot at Cleary in their most recent clash.

“The three kicks that he kicked where we knocked one on, we pushed one dead, and we got tackled in the in-goal area, you will see how much obstruction there was,” Bennett said.

“They (the kick pressure chasers) didn’t even get close to Nathan. You are allowed to have blockers in the game but not illegally.

“They have got to be stationary. (But) they’re interfering. They are either moving forwards, backwards or sideways to block the (marker chaser) getting to the kicker.

“So he was untouched in that game. We couldn’t get near him.”

Wary of a potential ambush on Nathan’s kicking game in Townsville, Ivan Cleary described the NRL’s rules protecting kickers as “erratic”.

“It comes and goes, I reckon. There was an edict put out by Grahame Annesley that gets a lot of attention for that week and the next one then it goes away again,” Cleary said.

“I think it’s pretty obvious the NRL wants to protect playmakers and kickers, it’s probably a pretty good stance.”

Nathan Cleary’s array of attacking kicks is one of Penrith’s deadliest weapons.

With Mitchell suspended, Mansour injured, and inexperienced duo Blake Taaffe and Jaxson Paulo taking their place, another aerial assault seems certain to rain down on the Rabbitohs.

According to Fox League’s Cooper Cronk, the bombs will be dropping early and often and will continue relentlessly regardless of how Taaffe, Paulo and Alex Johnston handle the first few howitzers.

“If you think the opposition has a crack or a weakness, test it out early — whether it’s a kick, someone you want to run at or a ball-playing thing,” Cronk said.

“There’s no doubt he went there with an idea to do that. Maybe Blake Taaffe or Jaxson Paulo or Alex Johnston have a better chance of catching it.

“But I tell you what, Nathan Cleary will stick at it. It’ll be more than one or two kicks fielded by those guys to send Nathan in a different direction.”

Regardless of the kicking outcome, the second-versus-third match-up seems destined to be played with plenty of fire, with South Sydney also smarting over ending up on the wrong end of an 11-2 penalty count the last time the teams met.

That’s despite the Rabbitohs conceding just 84 penalties this year at an average of 5.3 a game, the fewest in the NRL.

“Here’s my point, in my opinion the ref is out there to ref for both teams. He is not there to ref for one team,” Bennett said.

“So if we are doing things that aren’t within the rule book I expect to be penalised. But if they are doing similar type things then I expect them to be penalised.

“I don’t think anyone that watched the game and reviewed the video didn’t think it was kind of one-way traffic.

“They did similar type things but they did not get penalised.”

Ivan Cleary said his side were well-prepared for any rough treatment they may encounter.

“You can only go off the evidence. They’re giving away plenty of penalties and their discipline hasn’t been where it needed to be. It speaks for itself, I think,” Cleary said.

“We’re experienced now in finals games, big games, Origin games, those big games bring that type (of footy).

“There’s little bits of extra here and there, you have to deal with that and that’s just how it goes. It’s nothing too out of the ordinary, it’s all why people love finals games.

“Some of the penalties in our last game against Souths weren’t discretionary penalties. They had to give them. I’m sure that will be the same case if that happens tomorrow night.”

Furious Bennett slams Panthers, NRL over ‘illegal tactics’

Wayne Bennett has launched a stunning pre-match attack on both Penrith and the NRL over what he claims is the use of premeditated illegal tactics to protect star playmaker Nathan Cleary.

In the countdown to Saturday’s NRL finals showdown in Townsville, the veteran South Sydney coach accused the Panthers of “practising” illegal block plays at training to prevent opposition teams putting legal kick pressure on Cleary.

He was adamant he had his information “from a very, very reliable source” that they “practice it at training”.

It comes after Cleary issued his own public appeal to the match officials, warning of a potential illegal South Sydney ambush on his son.

But Bennett was also livid that a private conversation he had with referees’ boss Jared Maxwell earlier this week to express his concerns was “leaked” by someone at the governing body and then reported in the media.

Wayne Bennett his hit out over Panthers kicking tactics, and fired up at the NRL claiming his criticism was ‘leaked’. Picture: Getty Images.

“I do it in privacy and I do it without talking to any media outlets whatever and then all of a sudden you are getting a fair bit of information about it,” Bennett said.

“That is what disturbs me most about all this stuff is that we have got no confidentiality in our game whatsoever and I think it is pretty poor.”

Asked directly if he felt the NRL leaked it, he said: “Well, I am sure they’ve leaked it. I have no doubt at all. I certainly haven’t spoken to a journalist about it. I have got no doubt at all that it has been leaked.”

Bennett was also clearly angry at claims his team was the one supposedly practicing to break the rules.

But he wasn’t backing away from what he told Maxwell, adamant the three towering bombs that led to mistakes in their most recent clash all came on the back of illegal block plays.

Bennett claims the Panthers use illegal tactics to protect Nathan Cleary. Picture: Getty Images.

Bennett also hit out at the fact his team was hammered 11-2 in the penalty count the last time the teams played, saying both teams need to be refereed with consistency.

“The bottom line is we haven’t been able to get near Nathan and his kicks because we are getting blocked,” Bennett fired.

“Our kick chasers are getting 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 what wasn’t allowable.

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

“The three kicks that he kicked where we knocked one on, we pushed one dead, and we got tackled in the in-goal area, you will see how much obstruction there was.

“They (the kick pressure chasers) didn’t even get close to Nathan.

“You are allowed to have blockers in the game but not illegally.

“They have got to be stationary. (But) they’re interfering. They are either moving forwards, backwards or sideways to block the (marker chaser) getting to the kicker.

“So he was untouched in that game. We couldn’t get near him.”

ennett may have a point, with footage suggesting Panthers may be using blockers to protect Cleary. Picture: Supplied.

But Bennett warned if the referees don’t act on Saturday he won’t let it go unpunished.

“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 again,” Bennett said.

“From doing our job. From playing within the rules. We are allowed to put pressure on the kicker. And everybody knows if you are in the block position then you can’t move.

“It has been going on for quite a while, the game has to address it at some stage because now we have made it public.

“It is illegal.”

He also had an issue with the lopsided 11-2 penalty count his team copped the last time the teams met.

He said: “Here’s my point, in my opinion the ref is out there to ref for both teams. He is not there to ref for one team. So if we are doing things that aren’t within the rule book I expect to be penalised. But if they are doing similar type things then I expect them to be penalised.

“It is a pretty simple formula for me.

“So if there is 10 penalties each or 8-10 or something like that it is all livable.

“But you can’t tell me that we are the least penalised team in the comp and we go out in one game and try and create mayhem … and that we do it deliberately. It just doesn’t happen.

“I don’t think anyone that watched the game and reviewed the video didn’t think it was kind of one-way traffic.

“We shut our mouths. We lived with it. But I have never coached to create mayhem against the opposition that is not within the rules. They did similar type things but they did not get penalised.”

More to come

HOW ‘WARRIOR’ PREMIER WON NRL GF FOR QUEENSLAND

—Peter Badel, Travis Meyn and Brent Read

Queensland coaching icon Wayne Bennett will get a chance to win a premiership on home soil after Suncorp Stadium finally clinched a historic NRL grand final.

As revealed by News Corp, Suncorp will celebrate a slice of history by hosting its maiden NRL grand final in a $25 million coup for the Queensland government and rugby league fans in the Sunshine State.

The two-month battle for rugby league’s biggest game is over with the NRL confirming Suncorp will host the grand final on Sunday, October 3 after the NSW government agreed to a one-off transfer to Queensland in the wake of their Covid crisis.

The development came as music to the ears of Bennett, the NRL’s greatest coach who will begin his quest for an eighth premiership when his Souths side take on Penrith in their finals opener this Saturday night in Townsville.

Bennett has won six of his seven titles with the Broncos, including victory in the last Queensland-based rugby league grand final – the 1997 Super League decider against Cronulla at ANZ Stadium.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett is looking for his eighth title

But this will be rugby league’s first legitimate grand final at Suncorp and Bennett has a red-hot chance to hold aloft the Telstra Premiership at the venue where he has celebrated countless wins with the Broncos and Queensland.

“It’s fantastic, as a Queenslander I am thrilled to see a Suncorp grand final,” Bennett said.

“I have to take my hat off to the NRL, Peter V’landys (ARL Commission boss) and the Queensland government, they have done a great job to keep the game alive.

“I was part of the Super League grand final in Brisbane, it was a great week then and Queensland people will love this.

“I remember 60,000 people coming to the Super League grand final, they had to bring in extra seating, so I have no doubt this will be a sellout at Suncorp.

“I hope we have a week-long celebration. I’m so pleased the Queensland people have been rewarded.”

The NRL had been exploring a number of grand-final options during the fresh Covid saga which forced the Telstra Premiership to relocate to Queensland in July.

New Zealand’s Eden Park and the Melbourne Cricket Ground were touted as viable contingencies.

Melbourne Storm owner Matt Tripp also had brief dialogue with V’landys about buying the grand final himself and hosting it at the MCG.

But the NRL has opted to reward the Queensland government with the 2021 NRL grand final as a virtual goodwill gift for saving the Telstra Premiership following NSW’s worst Covid outbreak.

V’landys has been locked in delicate talks with Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for the past month and thanked the NSW government for relinquishing the NRL grand final as part of their 25-year contract.

“The Queensland Premier is a warrior for the people of Queensland and just keeps delivering for them,” V’landys said.

Premier Annastacia Palacsczuk announces that the 2021 NRL Final series

“I’d like to acknowledge the New South Wales Government, in particular Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres for working collaboratively with us to reach an outcome that ensures the health and safety of NSW residents and allows the NRL to showcase the Grand Final live to rugby league fans.

“This year we will create history, playing the grand final in Brisbane for the very first time.

“This will be a historic moment for the city and a reward for the support the Queensland community has given us throughout 2021.

“This year will always be remembered as the year Queensland hosted all of our major events: All Stars, Magic Round, three State of Origins and the grand final.”

In a further boost for Queenslanders, the game will head to the bush during the playoffs with finals matches in Rockhampton, Townsville and Mackay.

“Rugby League is part of the DNA of regional Queensland,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.

“A number of towns have played a key role in keeping the competition going and we want to reward those fans and councils for their support of rugby league.

“From every challenge comes an opportunity and this year has presented us with an opportunity to reward regional Queenslanders with finals games.”

Retired NRL legend and former Queensland Origin captain Cameron Smith said Suncorp deserves to host a once-in-a-lifetime rugby league grand final.

“It’s huge,” he said.

“Queensland have been huge supporters of rugby league for a long, long time.

“Many consider it the heartland of rugby league. I believe that it is.

“They will pack it to the rafters no matter who makes the grand final.”

Originally published as NRL finals: Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett blasts Penrith’s ‘illegal’ bombing tactics