‘They undermined me’: South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett rips into Broncos over messy divorce

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has claimed the Broncos “undermined” him while pursuing a job with the Bunnies in 2018.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 27: Rabbitohs Head Coach Wayne Bennett speaks to media during the round 24 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium, on August 27, 2021, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has taken a swipe at the Brisbane Broncos after helping the Rabbitohs qualify for their first NRL Grand Final since 2014.

The Bunnies comprehensively defeated Manly 36-16 in Friday evening’s preliminary final to progress through to the season finale, where they will face either reigning champions the Melbourne Storm or the Penrith Panthers.

It will be Bennett’s final game as coach of South Sydney.

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Speaking to reporters after the victory, Bennett claimed the Broncos “undermined” him while pursuing a job at South Sydney in 2018.

In the post-match press conference, The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel asked the 71-year-old whether it was the proudest of his 10 Grand Finals considering his messy divorce from Brisbane.

Bennett responded: “I’ll let you determine that Peter. You are not going to hear from me because it doesn’t interest me.”

Badel persisted: “But when they let you go you had to go somewhere so for Souths to open the door for you.”

Bennett continued: “Well that was a huge thing and I will say publicly that they (Broncos) undermined me in the conversations with Souths.

“So they didn’t do a little job on me they did the best possible job they could have done on me.

“But to Souths’ credit there were some people there that had worked with me before and they were happy to bite the bullet and give me the opportunity.

“I owe Russell Crowe and hopefully tonight there is some repayment in what the team has done that means so much to him.

“And the chairman Nick Pappas as well has been wonderful and all the board so I have had tremendous support there and it has been refreshing to be honest.

“The last three years have been as refreshing a three years as I have had in coaching for a long time.”

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett didn’t mince his words. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Badel asked again: “Do you feel vindication Wayne because Brisbane felt you were washed up?”

Bennett replied: “They felt a lot of things. I wasn’t listening to them because I have spent a lifetime being honest with myself and if I thought I was washed up as a coach I wouldn’t coach another day because I would let too many people down.

“And I’ll determine that. No one is going to determine that for me. So nothing has changed for me.

“If I want to coach I will look to coach and make a contribution. I learned that as a young coach about when you should retire and when you shouldn’t retire because I worked with a coach that didn’t have the ambition anymore and the passion for it.

“But I’m not at that stage.”

The second preliminary final between Melbourne and Penrith is scheduled to get underway on Saturday at 4pm AEST.

Originally published as ‘They undermined me’: South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett rips into Broncos over messy divorce