Bennett has ‘magic touch’
WAYNE Bennett claims not to be driven by records but, even at almost 70, the NRL supercoach is still setting some that may never be broken.
If Bennett can plot a South Sydney victory over Canberra in the national capital tomorrow night, as he did in round 10, he will become the first mentor in history to coach four different clubs to grand finals.
“He’s got that bit of the magic touch,” Rabbitohs legend Bob McCarthy said. Has he what. As it is, 69-year-old Bennett is in the most elite of company alongside rugby league’s original supercoach Jack Gibson, the so-called Minister for Defence Warren Ryan, and Brian Smith as the only four men since 1908 to have coached three different teams in title deciders.
But unlike Smith, who was unsuccessful in four attempts with St George, Parramatta and the Sydney Roosters, Bennett boasts an unrivalled seven modern-day premierships with Brisbane and the Dragons.
And the game’s longestserving coach is still going almost a decade after reinventing himself to outsmart Smith’s Roosters in the 2010 grand final to help the Dragons break their 31-year title drought.
McCarthy declared Bennett the master of picking the right team to coach and then quickly learning – and winning over – the dressing-room, as he has in his first season at Souths despite only arriving last October after being dramatically shown the door at Brisbane.
“He’s been in the game a long time, so he’s got a lot of knowledge,” McCarthy said.
“`Benny’ knew they had a good side here and just made sure they were all on the same sheet of music when they played each week and we’re nearly in a grand final.”
Also boasting an unmatched nine grand finals as a coach, Bennett has proven himself the best man to have in your corner in preliminary finals week too.
“That’s big. It’s good when people have got that record that the players look up to him,” McCarthy said.
“It’s better than someone who hasn’t got a record and says something and they think: `Is he only guessing or does he really know?’
“This week will be very nervy. It’s the week after that really gets you. It gets you in the belly. But if we get through this week, he knows what’s going on.”
Boom back-rower Cameron Murray, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise from former schoolboys rugby star to State of Origin series winner in 2019, can’t speak highly enough of Bennett’s influence on the Rabbitohs.
“He’s a great people manager, he’s a great person for young boys coming through,” Murray said. “He’s developed some really good relationships with the boys and you get back what you give.”
A tee-totalling disciplinarian and fitness freak, Bennett puts in the hard yards like few others.
It’s not uncommon for the veteran coach to embark on 90-minute solo runs immediately after team sessions. He was spotted pounding the pavement, stopwatch at the ready, following Souths training on Tuesday.
Asked if records mattered to him, Bennett offered a brisk “no mate” before setting off again.