WAYNE CLEARED TO HELP SLATER
THE ARL Commission has given Wayne Bennett the green light to help Queensland as chairman Peter V’landys outlined why he torpedoed plans for Mal Meninga to return to Camp Maroon.
V’landys said he would not let rugby league’s showpiece event, State of Origin, be tainted by a conflict of interest in the event Meninga assisted the Maroons while also serving as Australian coach.
The ARLC’S decision to block Meninga left the Queensland Rugby League scrambling to find a senior figure to mentor Billy Slater, the preferred candidate to take charge of the Maroons.
But while Meninga is out, the ARL Commission has left the door ajar for Bennett, who will sever ties with Souths at season’s end.
V’landys said he would not stand in the way of the super coach joining forces with Slater even if he secures a headcoaching role with a proposed second Brisbane team for 2023.
“It’s no problem if Wayne wanted to be involved with Queensland again,” V’landys said. “Coaches aligned with NRL teams are not a problem, but being in charge of the Australian team is an entirely different proposition.
“As long as the club that Wayne is coaching agrees for him to help Queensland, that’s the main issue – the NRL has no issue with a club coach helping an Origin team.”
Meninga was keen to play a mentoring role for the
Maroons but NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo contacted Meninga on
Tuesday to tell him he would not be permitted to work with the Maroons.
V’landys said he could not risk a repeat of the Terry Fearnley affair in 1985, when the then-nsw coach also coached Australia and was accused of selection bias in snubbing Queensland players during the national team’s fractured tour of New Zealand.
Bennett was tight-lipped on Wednesday about the prospect of helping Slater.
“I have no idea what’s going on … “he said.