Bennett can't be blamed for leaving our club in a rabble - although his recommendation of Price as head coach was borderline criminal.
The fact is after our three years under Bennett and a Premiership our whole squad increased in value beyond the salary cap.
Michael Weyman was signed as an overweight, unfit, injury prone player from the Raiders scrap heap and became a SOO and Test player under Bennett.
Brett Morris started 2009 in NSW Cup and went on to become a SOO and Test player under Bennett.
Beau Scott went from being a dumb, error prone player to becoming a legitimate SOO enforcer under Bennett.
Dean Young went from being a solid first grader to becoming a SOO and Test player under Bennett.
Trent Merrin would have been on close to minimum wage as an up and coming first grader, to a guy who will next year be one of the highest paid forwards in the game.
Jamie Soward went from the scrap heap to becoming a SOO player.
Pretty much all NRL contracts have clauses that trigger automatic upgrades in the event of rep selection.
The fact is with the premiership success and the fact that we were a fairly old squad, there was going to be a rebuilding phase. Unfortunately this has been exacerbated by the club's decision to sign and retain Price for as long as they did.
Bennett did what was required of him. If he had stuck around the rebuild wouldn't have been as painful, but to be honest I doubt we would have retained Morris and Merrin anyway. When it comes to the business of winning Bennett has never been a man of sentiment. Remember he's moved on the likes of Wally Lewis, Petero Civonaceva, Carl Webb and Scott Prince. And history shows that he has never been to keen on paying wingers and middle men big salaries.
We're not where we want to be, but anyone who knows anything about Rugby League can see we're on the right track and even with little room to move under the salary cap we are rebuilding a solid squad that is competitive and will be seriously challenging for a Premiership in a year or two.
Straight Shooter
(Keeping it real)
