Souths’ way or highway for Bennett
WAYNE Bennett’s reign as the Big Boss is over, with Souths hierarchy instructing the Broncos super coach to adhere to “The Rabbitoh Way” if he wants success at Redfern.
Bennett’s signing with Souths was so secretive it was brokered at an airport without the knowledge of Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe.
Crowe spoke to Bennett just once – it was a congratulatory phone call from New York 24 hours before the 68-year-old was unveiled last Thursday as Souths coach from 2020.
While Hollywood megastar Crowe and Souths bosses are delighted to have Bennett on board, the NRL’s greatest coach is under no illusions about the decision-making structure at Redfern.
At the Broncos, Bennett had the final say on hiring and firing players and enjoyed enormous clout, but at the Rabbitohs the veteran coach will have a clearly defined role.
“Wayne will only have to worry about coaching,” Souths boss Shane Richardson said.
“The Rabbitoh Way is not for one coach to come in and change the whole club.
“If that happens, a club can be destroyed by a coach leaving.
“We have an outstanding board which allows me to do my job and from my discussions Wayne is happy to come in and just be the coach, just as ‘Seibs’ (current coach Anthony Seibold) was.
“Wayne will coach and select the side, but recruitment and the other decisions, we will run the club as we run it now.
“Seibs didn’t recruit the side, the club did, and when ‘Madge’ (Michael Maguire) won the comp (in 2014), he didn’t recruit the side, we did.
“Obviously, we will consult Wayne on some things but like our previous coaches, who did a great job, we just want him to worry about coaching.”
Throughout his unrivalled 30-year coaching career in the big league, Bennett’s power has been largely unfettered.
The seven-time premiership-winner has built clubs on his terms dating back to his debut year at the Broncos in 1988, when he famously told Brisbane’s founders not to interfere with his job as coach.
That stance has put Bennett on a collision course with current Brisbane CEO Paul White, leading to his demise at a Broncos club set to appoint Souths coach Seibold as his successor.
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AAP AUSTRALIAN young gun Alex de Minaur has failed to convert two match points before losing a three-set marathon to Feliciano Lopez at the Paris Masters.
Almost twice de Minaur’s age, the seasoned Spaniard showed his mettle to fight back in the tiebreaker and triumph 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in their first-round clash at the ATP Masters 1000 level event.
The 19-year-old de Minaur, who received treatment for a neck problem after winning the first set, smashed his racquet after Lopez won a 16-shot rally to close out the match in just under three hours.
Lopez bludgeoned 19 aces to three but neither found it easy to make inroads on serve with only one break in the match.
After de Minaur saw off two match points at 4-5 in the third set, the Australian No.1 was on the brink of victory after racing to 6-4 in the deciding tiebreak. But the 37-year-old Lopez reeled off four straight points to stop de Minaur in his tracks and advance to a round of 32 date with Argentinian 15thseed Diego Schwartzman.
Earlier on Monday, John Millman’s season appeared to end after being forced to retire during his first-round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili due to a back injury. Lucky loser Matt Ebden is the sole Australian left in the Paris event.