Auntie.Gerald
First Grade
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Looks more like aitken given the road ahead speech
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BLM, Dads death and resultant brothers suicide would tend to effect anyone's mental health.
I never knew this.
Poor bugger. Imagine having to live through that, live in the public eye & perform in a pressure cooker environment all in your late teens/early 20’s. Hasler deserves credit for getting him focused & Suli deserves credit for simply coping.
Hasn't he gone to rugby?
His coming back because the union season in Japan has been stopped due to the Coronavirus
Cheers broWayne Bennett St George Illawarra Dragons coaching return on cards
Adam Mobbs, The Daily Telegraph
March 12, 2020 4:14pm
Subscriber only
Wayne Bennett is in line for a stunning return to coach St George Illawarra, according to The Daily Telegraph’s Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield.
Bennett, the South Sydney Rabbitohs coach, is on the lookout for a new job given the Rabbitohs have a succession plan to replace the 70-year-old with his assistant Jason Demetriou from 2022.
Despite Bennett having two years remaining on his Redfern deal, Rothfield, speaking on The Daily Telegraph NRL Podcast, fears the situation will prove a distraction for Souths and be the catalyst for the supercoach making an early departure from the club.
Current Dragons coach Paul McGregor last year signed an extension to stay at the club until the end of 2021, but he is under pressure to retain his job following what became a disastrous 2019 season.
“What I’m predicting here is that Wayne Bennett will be the next coach of St George Illawarra,” Rothfield said.
“I think it will happen in the next 12 months and I think it’s going to be potentially the biggest story of the year.”
Rabbitohs assistant coach Jason Demetriou and Wayne Bennett at training. Picture: Getty
The Rabbitohs find themselves in an off-field transitional period over the next few years with general manager of football Shane Richardson also revealing he would quit the club at the same time as Bennett.
“Wayne Bennett doesn’t want to be a football manager like Gus Gould was at Penrith,” Rothfield said.
“I would have thought there would have been a lovely slot for him to be Shane Richardson, Richo goes and they (Bennett and Demetriou) work together there.
(But) he insists he wants to coach again.”
McGregor survived an internal review in the off-season, but Rothfield does not believe that will guarantee his long-term safety and that both the Dragons and Bennett would have a mutual interest in rekindling their relationship.
”Everyone knows that if St George struggle this year — and it’s looking like they will with their roster and doubts around (suspended forward Jack) De Belin — that ‘Mary’ McGregor is gone,” he said.
”He was a cigarette paper off being axed last year.
Ask should McGregor have been sacked last year, Rothfield said, “Yes, he should have been.
They had the review you have when you don’t have a review. They brought in Mary’s mate Phil Gould to do the review. You know what he found? ‘Mary should stay’. What a shock.”
Dragons coach Paul McGregor survived an internal review. Picture: Getty Images
Dragons assistant Shane Flanagan is keen on a top-level coaching return but, under the terms of his return following a suspension over Cronulla’s salary cap scandal, the NRL has only let Flanagan take on an assistant role for the next two years. That would rule him out of succeeding McGregor if things go sour at the Dragons this season.
“I know for a fact that Wayne Bennett would be open to going back to St George,” Rothfield said.
“He loved this stint there — he won a premiership there and I honestly think it’s a big chance of happening.”
The Rabbitohs have been tipped as title challengers in 2020, but Rothfield and colleague Dean Ritchie believe the Bennett-Demetriou situation could derail their premiership ambitions.
“This is the problem Souths have when you try to set out your future long term,” Ritchie said. “I get that every club needs and wants stability, but when you say to a coach you’ve got two years and you’re out, those two years can be very disruptive on a variety of levels.”
Will Wayne Bennett see out his final two years at Redfern? Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty
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Rothfield said adding to the speculation was Bennett’s track record of failing to see out contracts.
“It started back in 1987 at Canberra when he left the Raiders mid-contract to become the first coach of the Brisbane Broncos,” he said.
“He also found the going too tough at the Newcastle Knights and walked out early on his contract there to go take a job at the Broncos.
“He also left this Broncos contract early, albeit he was axed, because they thought he was pre-coaching at Souths before he got down there and they wanted to do the swap with Seibold.
“There’s a few contracts over the years he hasn’t seen out.”
Bennett’s position at the Rabbitohs, while also having one eye on the future, could also impact the Rabbitohs’ playing ranks.
Assistant coach Jason Demetriou is already hands-on at Souths training. Picture. Phil Hillyard
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“Cameron Murray is off contract at the end of next year. Would Wayne Bennett be keen to extend him or would be Wayne Bennett be keen to have a quiet chat to him and say ‘look, I’m off to St George, would you think about coming over and captaining that club?” Rothfield said.
“Other players that need to be extended at Souths that Jason Demetriou might want to keep but Wayne Bennett doesn’t think they’re worthy of that.”
According to Rothfield, McGregor isn’t the only coach who should be looking over their shoulder at Bennett.
“If Dean Pay doesn’t improve the Bulldogs this year I think Wayne Bennett would be an obvious target for them,” Rothfield said.
Dragons assistant Shane Flanagan wants to be a head coach again. Picture: Adam Yip
“We know George Khoury and their leagues club prints money and they’d have the cash available to attract him.
“There’s a $4 million war chest there at the beginning of next year to rebuild.
“I just think it’s a really big developing story that could be unsettling for the Rabbitohs particularly if they go through a rough streak this year.”
While the Bennett-Demetriou succession isn’t due to be happen until the end of next year, Rothfield says the transition is already happening.
“You ask any player there, he’s not the hands-on coach,” Rothfield said of Bennett.
“Demetriou is the hands-on coach there.”
