GOING, GOING, STAYING?
Wayne aims to honour his contract
RUGBY LEAGUE: Wayne Bennett is confident he will not be sacked by Broncos bosses after he sensationally called his own press conference yesterday to declare he is staying at Brisbane.
In dramatic scenes yesterday at Red Hill, Bennett emerged from his office to announce he is digging his heels in and will not walk away from the final year of his Broncos contract in 2019.
The bombshell has rocked Brisbane and Souths management, who have spent the past four days in delicate talks hoping to finalise a straight swap with Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold immediately.
The clubs had set a deadline of 5pm yesterday and the key negotiators widely believed Bennett would succumb to pressure and finally agree to a swift transfer that would see him at Redfern this Monday.
The Broncos were so convinced Bennett would fall on his sword they had plans to unveil Seibold as their new coach at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
But, right until the end, Bennett walked to the beat of his own drum, keeping Broncos CEO Paul White and chairman Karl Morris in suspense until he fronted the media to declare: “I’m going nowhere.”
White and Morris have the option to sack Bennett, but that is unlikely given the collective desire to preserve his legacy at the Broncos after 25 remarkable seasons of service to the club.
A media throng gathered at Red Hill yesterday, patiently waiting for more than two hours for Bennett to emerge from Brisbane’s $27 million high-performance centre. At 12pm, he stepped up. “I have been terribly consistent with my stance and nothing has changed,” he said.
“I have informed the players and the staff and the CEO and the chairman that I am staying and honouring my 2019 contract, which was always my plan.
“I have spoken with South Sydney. I didn’t ask them if they were disappointed or not, I’m feeling for them a lot but at the same time I have a responsibility here.
Asked if he feared being sacked in the coming days, Bennett said: “I don’t know, you have to ask them (Broncos hierarchy).
“It’s always a possibility... but I spoke to the chairman (Morris) last Saturday morning and he said he wanted me here for 2019 as well.”
Seibold still flew into Brisbane yesterday to attend the Anthony Mundine-Jeff Horn fight at Suncorp Stadium.
Brisbane’s plan was for Seibold to hold a press conference before he attended the fight, but Bennett’s defiant stand sensationally scuppered his coronation at the Broncos.
Just last Saturday, Bennett looked certain to be coaching the Broncos in 2019 after a meeting with chairman Morris failed to result in his termination.
But Souths were determined to fast-track a swap with Seibold, prompting Bennett and the Broncos to come back to the negotiating table.
Bennett gave serious thought to leaving, but his commitment was sealed at 8am yesterday when he contacted bosses at News Corporation, owners of Brisbane and publishers of this newspaper, to advise them he was staying in Brisbane.
“There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” he said.
“There was some aggravation about Anthony wanting to be here a year early and that sort of stuff. You have to ask Souths those questions.”
‘‘ I HAVE INFORMED THE PLAYERS AND THE STAFF AND THE CEO AND THE CHAIRMAN THAT I AM STAYING. WAYNE BENNETT