Wayne Bennett will saunter into the coach's box at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night, seemingly without a care in the world, as an NRL grand final coach for the 10th time. His record stands at seven wins and two losses in premiership deciders without even a mention of what he has done a representative level. His 10th grand final, this one at the helm of South Sydney, is his fourth with separate clubs after he also took Canberra, Brisbane and St George Illawarra to deciders. Remarkable stats that more than justify the 'Supercoach' tag. Like him or not, he is destined to go down as one of the greatest coaches in Australian sport. But how will he be remembered in Newcastle? Whether he was an abject failure as coach or not during his three-year stint at the Knights from 2012-14, largely depends on who you talk too. His critics will tell you he only came to town because of Nathan Tinkler's millions and left three years into a four year deal after the money dried up, leaving the club in a worse state than how he found it. They'll argue, with some justification, he was never the right fit for a town like Newcastle and a club like the Knights because he never seriously tried to buy into the community when he was here. That he never bought into what the club's past meant or cared about what it's future looked like. A hired gun brought in to win premierships by Tinkler, who left when it all got too hard. But others paint a completely different picture. Former player and club official Stephen Crowe points to the Knights' preliminary final appearance in 2013 as evidence Bennett's tenure was far from a disaster. "On the basis of that alone, Wayne's our most successful coach in the past 15 or so years," Crowe said. "He may not have bought into the community when he was here but you can't blame him for what's happened at the club since he left. "When the Old Boys get together and talk about the lack of success over the past decade, Wayne's name doesn't feature as a reason why." Former Knights recruitment boss Peter Mulholland says criticism of Bennett for only chasing premierships and doing nothing about junior development at the club is a fallacy. "Yes, he was brought in to win first grade comps but while he was here, he helped set up junior development programs that no-one had seen before with full-time coaching and high performance staff for the kids and he employed Graham Murray to oversee all that," Mulholland said. "Players like the Saifiti boys, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Sione [Mata'utia], Josh King, Joe Tapine - those type of players all came through then. So to say he wrecked the joint and left it in a terrible state is absolute rubbish. "And when you really analyse his results, his first year was disappointing but then he made the prelim final in 2013 when Bedsy [Danny Buderus] got KO'd against the Roosters. "Then in his final year, there was the Russell Packer stuff, Alex's [McKinnon] injury and then the demise of Tinkler - he had all that to contend with." As for players at the club coached by Bennett, Jarrod Mullen says he played the best footy of his career under the Supercoach. "Wayne was always challenging me," Mullen said. "I remember he called me into his office early in 2013 after we missed the top eight in his first year and he told me my problem was I was in a comfort zone. "That I'd been at the club for a fair while and I wasn't being challenged enough. He asked me was I was scared of and I told him I was hopeless with heights. I used to have to be sedated to get on a plane - that sort of thing. "That's when he said he wanted me to jump out of a plane - parachute out to get rid of that fear. "I thought he was joking but he wasn't and made out like I'd have to do it before he'd play me. I ended up doing it - the best and worst feeling I've ever had." Mullen had his best season in the NRL that year, finishing fourth in the Dally Ms. Surely the decision of Knights CEO Phil Gardner and coach Adam O'Brien not to beef up the coaching support staff next season by replacing departed assistant Anthony Seibold opens the door for Danny Buderus to take a hands-on role on the coaching front again. Buderus, a former assistant coach to both Rick Stone and Nathan Brown and interim NRL coach when Stone was sacked at the back-end of 2015, is the Knights' head of football. But why wouldn't the club utilise his knowledge and skill as one of the game's greatest hookers at training as well next season, even if it is only for a session or two a week. Newcastle Knights have signed the highly promising 17-year-old cousin of Penrith's Kiwi international prop James Fisher-Harris. The Knights have pinched New Zealand backrower Jayden Harris from under the noses of the Warriors and the Bulldogs, who had been close to signing him, presumably following a recommendation from Phil Gould. Gould was employed in a pathways role with the Warriors before joining the Bulldogs as general manager of football in July. Harris, who was named in the New Zealand Under 16's side last year, will join a strong Knights' S G Ball Under 19's squad for 2022.
