Great article by Steve Mascord (this is something Gordumb Tallis will never be able to comprehend)
ON Monday night, television viewers and commentator Gorden Tallis expressed surprise and dismay at St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennetts monosyllabic performance in a post-match media conference.
Most non-reporters only see and hear Bennett when he wants to talk. So when he says little, they think hes grumpy or being rude.
In fact, when Bennett left Mondays presser, he joked around with at least three people including me on his way back down to the dressingrooms. He wasnt in a bad mood at all.
This writer has covered more than 100 Wayne Bennett press conferences and regards Monday nights performance as par for the course. Far from being a reluctant performer, Bennett puts more thought into using the media than any other coach.
Youll be able to see that, too - if you understand a few simple rules. So heres a handy Wayne Bennett For Dummies guide.
1. If his side wins .... Bennett will say very little so that his players get all the publicity and not him. He will be extremely limited in his praise to prevent his players getting big heads and becoming complacent;
2. If his side loses ... he will be effusive at the media conference and buy into all sorts of side issues with nothing to do with the match to deflect attention away from his players poor performances. He will even joke with reporters;
3. If his side plays very poorly .... he will most likely refuse to acknowledge it, insisting he was quite happy with the players showing and optimistic about the following week. This is a sign he knows confidence is badly down and he is using his public utterances to boost it;
4. The first question of a media conference ... almost always gets a short answer, no matter how good or bad the question is. This sets the tone for the conference Wayne is in charge;
5. Bennett name-checks one reporter per season ... there is a favoured hack who gets his name mentioned when Bennett answers a question. The reason for this is open to speculation but Bennetts sense of loyalty seems to involve identifying with one of everything at any given time. One radio network (see below), one protégé, one journalist. For years it was Steve Ricketts of the Courier-Mail. Then it was Chris Bombolas of Channel Nine. The position is now vacant;
6. Bennett does not do one-on-one interviews with any electronic media aside from ABC Radio. John Singleton reportedly fell out with Bennett recently when the coach refused to talk to the Matthew Johns Show. When I am working for the ABC as a sideline eye, Bennett will be interviewed by me. When I am working for Triple M, he refuses. This seems to have its roots in Bennett growing up listening to ABC radio on weekends but one suspects there are other reasons he distrusts television and radio;
7. Bennett is actually very helpful to most print reporters... but in most cases will talk to them for long periods on the phone before refusing to be quoted. He is almost always interested in helping with feature stories but shies away from news stories.
8. Once a year, with just a day or so notice ... he tells his club he is ready to do a whole day of one-on-one interviews. This is usually at a time when his players need a break from scrutiny. Reporters come from miles around ...
Finally, Bennett is not above forming strategic alliances with media figures if he thinks it is going to help him or his team. By saying very little, he guarantees maximum exposure when he does open his mouth and sometimes can create white noise to drown out other issues which he finds harmful to his clubs campaign.
And despite his apparent public reticence, he has an enormous personal following. One club official told me that Wayne Bennett would be worth 5000 new members the minute he signed to coach a new side.
LINK: http://www.backpagelead.com.au/leag...:+BPL-news-feed+(BackPageLead+Daily+News+Feed)
ON Monday night, television viewers and commentator Gorden Tallis expressed surprise and dismay at St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennetts monosyllabic performance in a post-match media conference.
Most non-reporters only see and hear Bennett when he wants to talk. So when he says little, they think hes grumpy or being rude.
In fact, when Bennett left Mondays presser, he joked around with at least three people including me on his way back down to the dressingrooms. He wasnt in a bad mood at all.
This writer has covered more than 100 Wayne Bennett press conferences and regards Monday nights performance as par for the course. Far from being a reluctant performer, Bennett puts more thought into using the media than any other coach.
Youll be able to see that, too - if you understand a few simple rules. So heres a handy Wayne Bennett For Dummies guide.
1. If his side wins .... Bennett will say very little so that his players get all the publicity and not him. He will be extremely limited in his praise to prevent his players getting big heads and becoming complacent;
2. If his side loses ... he will be effusive at the media conference and buy into all sorts of side issues with nothing to do with the match to deflect attention away from his players poor performances. He will even joke with reporters;
3. If his side plays very poorly .... he will most likely refuse to acknowledge it, insisting he was quite happy with the players showing and optimistic about the following week. This is a sign he knows confidence is badly down and he is using his public utterances to boost it;
4. The first question of a media conference ... almost always gets a short answer, no matter how good or bad the question is. This sets the tone for the conference Wayne is in charge;
5. Bennett name-checks one reporter per season ... there is a favoured hack who gets his name mentioned when Bennett answers a question. The reason for this is open to speculation but Bennetts sense of loyalty seems to involve identifying with one of everything at any given time. One radio network (see below), one protégé, one journalist. For years it was Steve Ricketts of the Courier-Mail. Then it was Chris Bombolas of Channel Nine. The position is now vacant;
6. Bennett does not do one-on-one interviews with any electronic media aside from ABC Radio. John Singleton reportedly fell out with Bennett recently when the coach refused to talk to the Matthew Johns Show. When I am working for the ABC as a sideline eye, Bennett will be interviewed by me. When I am working for Triple M, he refuses. This seems to have its roots in Bennett growing up listening to ABC radio on weekends but one suspects there are other reasons he distrusts television and radio;
7. Bennett is actually very helpful to most print reporters... but in most cases will talk to them for long periods on the phone before refusing to be quoted. He is almost always interested in helping with feature stories but shies away from news stories.
8. Once a year, with just a day or so notice ... he tells his club he is ready to do a whole day of one-on-one interviews. This is usually at a time when his players need a break from scrutiny. Reporters come from miles around ...
Finally, Bennett is not above forming strategic alliances with media figures if he thinks it is going to help him or his team. By saying very little, he guarantees maximum exposure when he does open his mouth and sometimes can create white noise to drown out other issues which he finds harmful to his clubs campaign.
And despite his apparent public reticence, he has an enormous personal following. One club official told me that Wayne Bennett would be worth 5000 new members the minute he signed to coach a new side.
LINK: http://www.backpagelead.com.au/leag...:+BPL-news-feed+(BackPageLead+Daily+News+Feed)
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