St George Illawarra's Wayne Bennett hailed as greatest rugby league coach
By Stuart Honeysett
October 04, 2010 .
It was poetic that Ron Massey was seated next to St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett when the Dragons ended a 31-year premiership drought at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.
That's because in a different era, Massey used to sit alongside another great coach - the late Jack Gibson.
Gibson won five premierships at two different clubs and is widely regarded as the greatest coach the game has ever seen.
Bennett has seven at two different clubs and counting, but before we get to his place in history, it's important to acknowledge how he felt about having Massey by his side on NRL grand final day.
"Yeah, it was pretty special," Bennett said. "He's been with me for a few because he was Jack's great co-coach, or assistant coach, or what did he call himself? Coaching co-ordinator.
"He's been here before and I'm just so pleased. He's getting on in years now and it's not easy for him to get around, but mentally he's great and I was really pleased to have him there. It made my night."
Bennett knows the comparisons between him and Gibson will start to gain momentum. To be fair, they were already there before Sunday night's game, given he won six premierships during his 21 years at Brisbane Broncos. So how does he feel about that?
"I don't like the comparison stuff personally," Bennett said. "I'm Wayne and he was Jack and we're different eras.
"He was a great coach and I've got a great amount of respect for him. He influenced me and he influenced other people and did some great things for the game.
"If I can come close to that that's a bonus, but I never set out to be that. I just set out to do a job and opportunities came along and I just kept doing a job."
The job Bennett did last night was enormous. The Roosters took an 8-6 lead into the break and all the momentum.
The discipline that Bennett had drilled into his troops and made them such a dominant force all season was suddenly sadly lacking and the master coach had only 10 minutes to find it.
Needless to say, he did and the Dragons never looked back. And what did Massey think?
"He was like the coach - he wasn't enjoying too much until half-time, but then he realised in the second half we were getting it together," Bennett said.
"He loved it in the end."
So did the long suffering Dragons fans. The supporters made their feelings known when he walked down on to the field through the crowd.
To a man they chanted his name and bowed down in appreciation of their new messiah. It shouldn't be too long before the game does too.
