POWER ON THE WAYNE
When does an NRL coach reach his use-by date?
WAYNE Bennett turned 70 last month and is now the oldest coach in the history of the game.
The seven-time premiership winner was in Perth at the weekend for the Nines but interestingly handed over the tournament coaching responsibilities to his highly regarded assistant, Jason Demetriou.
Bennett’s contract with the Rabbitohs runs out at the end of next season.
His record since winning the 2010 grand final with St George Illawarra is not great.
He was sacked at the Broncos and, more recently, England after four straight losses, including to PNG.
Before that, he walked out mid-contract and left the Newcastle Knights in a horrendous state that led to wooden spoons in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Bennett’s future at South Sydney is a big story this season. He did a good job last year but didn’t improve on what Anthony Seibold had done.
It would be fair to say Seibold left Souths in better condition than Bennett left the Broncos.
Other great NRL coaches have been long retired with their feet up by 70.
The great Jack Gibson and Warren Ryan quit at 58. Phil Gould finished at the Roosters at 41, although he coached Origin until he was 45. Timmy Sheens went until 61 and Johnny Lang 60. Melbourne Storm super coach Craig Bellamy is still going at 60 but told me last year that 2020 could be his last year.
There is no question Bennett still has the support of his players at Redfern.
There was, however, talk of English players questioning his coaching methods after four straight losses.
There have been other issues in the past couple of years.
Players privately say he can forget names and even some of their moves. They say he even fell asleep in a Broncos’ video session in 2018.
The talk at Souths is that Bennett will see out his coaching contract until the end of 2021, the same time head of football Shane Richardson comes off contract.
Bennett could then take Richardson’s job and Demetriou would become the Rabbitohs’ head coach.
The timing would be perfect because no one wants to see an all-time legend outstay his welcome.