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I've said for a while now that 2019 could be one of the most important Season's of Cookie's career because he is most certainly going to have a lot more focus on him from opposition teams. However, I think he is the kind of player to overcome this and he will be really working hard on his game over the Pre-Season no doubt. If our forwards can continue the quick play-the-ball speeds in 2019 too, there won't be much that oppostion teams can do to contain Cook.
Philosophical differences behind Bennett v Broncos battle: https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/12/03...d-wayne-bennett-stoush-with-brisbane-broncos/
From Sporting News,
How Wayne Bennett cost himself a $900,000 Broncos payout
Wayne Bennett's hunt for a payout has been suspected as the reason behind the delay in his coaching swap with Anthony Seibold.
But after months of playing hardball, Bennett won't be seeing a cent of his Broncos contract.
Eventually, Brisbane were left with no choice but to sack their six-time premiership-winning coach due to a series of alleged contract breaches that have saved the club from a huge financial loss.
The Courier Mail reports Bennett will take away around $300,000 for image rights, with his contract entailing an intellectual-property component.
However, his football contract, reportedly worth $900,000, won't be paid out after Bennett intervened with South Sydney's plans while contracted to the Broncos.
Accusations levelled by Seibold in an emotionally-distraught letter to Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly regarding Bennett's interference have cost the 68-year-old his payout.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Bennett reportedly made contact with South Sydney speedster Alex Johnston to inform him he will be playing on the wing next season, before cancelling a Seibold-planned pre-season camp.
“I know News Corp didn’t want to pay him out because he’s such a legendary figure in Queensland, and they obviously didn’t want to pay him out $1 million either,” journalist Phil Rothfield told Macquarie Sports Radio.
“That’s why it didn’t come to a head earlier. They just didn’t want to sack him. But once they saw Anthony Seibold’s email and they saw that he’d been ringing the players, cancelling Anthony Seibold’s pre-season camp. It’s basically a sackable offence.”
Brisbane determined this was a clear breach of Bennett's contract, controversially sacking him over voicemail on Sunday.
“I made multiple phone calls and unfortunately I had to communicate the decision over voice message and email,” Broncos chief executive Paul White said on Sunday.
“You might ask was that disappointing? Yes it was. But such was the nature of this whole issue, it was important we had it resolved, particularly before the players return (on Monday).''
Too early to set pass marks for Wayne Bennett with Rabbitohs, says South Sydney CEO
South Sydney CEO Blake Solly said Wayne Bennett is "genuinely excited" to link up with the Rabbitohs, but refused to put too much pressure on the incoming coach.
Bennett was yesterday confirmed to coach South Sydney in 2019 after his Broncos contract was terminated, allowing Anthony Seibold to immediately link up with the Broncos.
The 68-year-old was confirmed as South Sydney coach in October, in a deal beginning in 2020, after the Broncos refused to hand him a contract beyond 2019.
Both clubs were prepared to engage in an immediate coaching swap for 2019, but Bennett put his foot down on Friday in a press conference unknown to the executive, and made it clear he wanted to stay at Red Hill and honour his 2019 contract.
Two days later, Broncos CEO Paul White announced the club had ended their relationship with the man that helped them to six premierships, finally opening the door for Seibold.
The impasse got ugly, with a frustrated Seibold reportedly sending an explosive email to Solly, suggesting the constant back-and-forth affected he and his family.
Seibold previously said should he remain at the Rabbitohs for 2019 - maintaining he has the support of the players - he wanted Bennett out of club business until he takes over in 2020.
Rabbitohs football manager Shane Richardson was also adamant the Rabbitohs could survive and thrive under Seibold despite the farce.
Now, though, the straight swap is imminent, and while admitting there was frustration, Solly said Bennett was excited to arrive in Redfern.
"Definitely, there were times when it was frustrating, but for us, we were pretty clear that once Anthony agreed to join Brisbane, and Wayne had agreed to join us in 2020, that it made sense for the transfer to happen for the 2019 season," Solly told Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.
"As Paul said in his press conference yesterday, we made the running initially and tried to make it happen, but in the end it needed to be decision between Wayne and Brisbane as to whether it took place in 2019 or 2020.
"Wayne, and anyone that knows him, is a keen student of the game. The history and heritage of the Rabbitohs is unique, and I think he's excited about playing a part in that.
"He appreciates how important the member base is to the Rabbitohs, he can't wait to work with them and work for them and get strong results out of a really strong team."
The saga left the playing groups of both clubs in limbo, with constant reports suggesting Seibold had lost the South Sydney dressing room.
However, Solly said emotions were kept in check in Redfern, and that the playing group had set enough of a high standard to be able to move on quickly.
"The players have been great through this. They understood it wasn't an easy situation, that there's a lot of emotion involved and that it's difficult for everyone," Solly said.
"We're blessed at Souths with a really good leadership, blokes like Sam [Burgess], Greg [Inglis], John Sutton and Damian Cook, they're wonderful leaders.
"They've taken a lot of responsibility on themselves to set the standard over the last 12 months and continue to do so.
"Now we got that final clarity last night, we can all move forward to 2019 with a lot of excitement."
The excitement deserves to be there - the Bunnies topped the ladder in parts during the 2018 season off the back of a nine-game winning streak.
However, they did it the hard way in the finals, losing at the death to the Storm in the first week, enacted the same treatment on the Dragons a week later, before being strangled by the Roosters in the preliminary final.
Considering Bennett's pedigree, and with little disruption to their playing roster, Solly suggested there's no reason why South Sydney can't aim high in 2019, but refused to set a pass mark for the incoming coach.
Solly also didn't expect South Sydney's support staff to be overhauled once Bennett arrives.
"It's too early to set pass marks. Wayne hasn't even set foot in Sydney yet," Solly said.
"We had a great year in 2018. We've got some really exciting young talent, and as I said, a wonderful leadership group, so we want to give ourselves the best chance of success in 2019.
"There's been some discussions over the last few days about assistant coaches... [Bennett] respects the team we've got in place.
"One of the things about Souths is that we have wonderful support staff that are contracted with us, and we don't intend to let any of them go unless they want to go."
Philosophical differences behind Bennett v Broncos battle: https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/12/03...d-wayne-bennett-stoush-with-brisbane-broncos/
From Sporting News,
How Wayne Bennett cost himself a $900,000 Broncos payout
Wayne Bennett's hunt for a payout has been suspected as the reason behind the delay in his coaching swap with Anthony Seibold.
But after months of playing hardball, Bennett won't be seeing a cent of his Broncos contract.
Eventually, Brisbane were left with no choice but to sack their six-time premiership-winning coach due to a series of alleged contract breaches that have saved the club from a huge financial loss.
The Courier Mail reports Bennett will take away around $300,000 for image rights, with his contract entailing an intellectual-property component.
However, his football contract, reportedly worth $900,000, won't be paid out after Bennett intervened with South Sydney's plans while contracted to the Broncos.
Accusations levelled by Seibold in an emotionally-distraught letter to Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly regarding Bennett's interference have cost the 68-year-old his payout.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Bennett reportedly made contact with South Sydney speedster Alex Johnston to inform him he will be playing on the wing next season, before cancelling a Seibold-planned pre-season camp.
“I know News Corp didn’t want to pay him out because he’s such a legendary figure in Queensland, and they obviously didn’t want to pay him out $1 million either,” journalist Phil Rothfield told Macquarie Sports Radio.
“That’s why it didn’t come to a head earlier. They just didn’t want to sack him. But once they saw Anthony Seibold’s email and they saw that he’d been ringing the players, cancelling Anthony Seibold’s pre-season camp. It’s basically a sackable offence.”
Brisbane determined this was a clear breach of Bennett's contract, controversially sacking him over voicemail on Sunday.
“I made multiple phone calls and unfortunately I had to communicate the decision over voice message and email,” Broncos chief executive Paul White said on Sunday.
“You might ask was that disappointing? Yes it was. But such was the nature of this whole issue, it was important we had it resolved, particularly before the players return (on Monday).''
Too early to set pass marks for Wayne Bennett with Rabbitohs, says South Sydney CEO
South Sydney CEO Blake Solly said Wayne Bennett is "genuinely excited" to link up with the Rabbitohs, but refused to put too much pressure on the incoming coach.
Bennett was yesterday confirmed to coach South Sydney in 2019 after his Broncos contract was terminated, allowing Anthony Seibold to immediately link up with the Broncos.
The 68-year-old was confirmed as South Sydney coach in October, in a deal beginning in 2020, after the Broncos refused to hand him a contract beyond 2019.
Both clubs were prepared to engage in an immediate coaching swap for 2019, but Bennett put his foot down on Friday in a press conference unknown to the executive, and made it clear he wanted to stay at Red Hill and honour his 2019 contract.
Two days later, Broncos CEO Paul White announced the club had ended their relationship with the man that helped them to six premierships, finally opening the door for Seibold.
The impasse got ugly, with a frustrated Seibold reportedly sending an explosive email to Solly, suggesting the constant back-and-forth affected he and his family.
Seibold previously said should he remain at the Rabbitohs for 2019 - maintaining he has the support of the players - he wanted Bennett out of club business until he takes over in 2020.
Rabbitohs football manager Shane Richardson was also adamant the Rabbitohs could survive and thrive under Seibold despite the farce.
Now, though, the straight swap is imminent, and while admitting there was frustration, Solly said Bennett was excited to arrive in Redfern.
"Definitely, there were times when it was frustrating, but for us, we were pretty clear that once Anthony agreed to join Brisbane, and Wayne had agreed to join us in 2020, that it made sense for the transfer to happen for the 2019 season," Solly told Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.
"As Paul said in his press conference yesterday, we made the running initially and tried to make it happen, but in the end it needed to be decision between Wayne and Brisbane as to whether it took place in 2019 or 2020.
"Wayne, and anyone that knows him, is a keen student of the game. The history and heritage of the Rabbitohs is unique, and I think he's excited about playing a part in that.
"He appreciates how important the member base is to the Rabbitohs, he can't wait to work with them and work for them and get strong results out of a really strong team."
The saga left the playing groups of both clubs in limbo, with constant reports suggesting Seibold had lost the South Sydney dressing room.
However, Solly said emotions were kept in check in Redfern, and that the playing group had set enough of a high standard to be able to move on quickly.
"The players have been great through this. They understood it wasn't an easy situation, that there's a lot of emotion involved and that it's difficult for everyone," Solly said.
"We're blessed at Souths with a really good leadership, blokes like Sam [Burgess], Greg [Inglis], John Sutton and Damian Cook, they're wonderful leaders.
"They've taken a lot of responsibility on themselves to set the standard over the last 12 months and continue to do so.
"Now we got that final clarity last night, we can all move forward to 2019 with a lot of excitement."
The excitement deserves to be there - the Bunnies topped the ladder in parts during the 2018 season off the back of a nine-game winning streak.
However, they did it the hard way in the finals, losing at the death to the Storm in the first week, enacted the same treatment on the Dragons a week later, before being strangled by the Roosters in the preliminary final.
Considering Bennett's pedigree, and with little disruption to their playing roster, Solly suggested there's no reason why South Sydney can't aim high in 2019, but refused to set a pass mark for the incoming coach.
Solly also didn't expect South Sydney's support staff to be overhauled once Bennett arrives.
"It's too early to set pass marks. Wayne hasn't even set foot in Sydney yet," Solly said.
"We had a great year in 2018. We've got some really exciting young talent, and as I said, a wonderful leadership group, so we want to give ourselves the best chance of success in 2019.
"There's been some discussions over the last few days about assistant coaches... [Bennett] respects the team we've got in place.
"One of the things about Souths is that we have wonderful support staff that are contracted with us, and we don't intend to let any of them go unless they want to go."
