Defiant Bennett refuses to budge Seibold has egg on his face
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 at Red Hill, Bennett announced he would 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 negotiators widely believed Bennett would finally agree to a swift transfer that would see him at Redfern this Monday.
The Broncos were so sure Bennett would fall on his sword they had plans to unveil Seibold as their new coach at a press conference yesterday.
But right until the end, Bennett kept Broncos CEO Paul White and chairman Karl Morris in suspense until stating: “I’m going nowhere.”
White and Morris have the option to sack Bennett, but that is unlikely given the 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.
“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, ANTHONY Seibold’s tenure at Souths is in tatters after he farewelled Rabbitohs players just minutes before Wayne Bennett blindsided his Broncos successor by declaring his allegiance to Brisbane.
Bennett will today move to smoke the peace- pipe with Broncos CEO Paul White and chairman Karl Morris to ensure Brisbane’s 2019 premiership dream is not derailed by infighting.
But Seibold faces a potential credibility crisis at Redfern after calling a meeting to tell players he was joining the Broncos – only to be blindsided.
Rabbitohs sources say Seibold told the group he had received a phone call informing him Bennett was moments away from holding a press conference Bennett said: “I don’t know, you have to ask them ( Broncos hierarchy).
“It’s always a possibility ... but I spoke to the chairman 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.
Brisbane’s plan was for Seibold to hold a press conference before he attended the fight, but Bennett scuppered his coronation at the Broncos.
Just last Saturday, Bennett looked in Brisbane to announce he was joining South Sydney.
Seibold added it would be his last day at the club. Rabbitohs players then offered their wishes to Seibold, who was due to fly to Brisbane to be unveiled as the Broncos’ new coach
“The drama hasn’t been me, it’s been everyone else,” Bennett said.
“The deadline ( 5pm yesterday) was there because the speculation was mounting and I was going back to training on Monday, so I didn’t want to spend two days at Broncos training and find myself somewhere else.
“The Souths move was never instigated by me. I did a contract with Souths for 2020 and ‘ 21. We never talked about 2019.” certain to be coaching the Broncos in 2019 after a meeting with 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 News Corp bosses, owners of Brisbane and publishers of the Townsville Bulletin, to advise them he was staying in Brisbane.