Bennett plans to coach into 70s
WAYNE Bennett has put retirement on the backburner with the Broncos and England mentor revealing plans to extend his decorated career by coaching beyond the age of 70.
On the eve of tomorrow night’s Australia-England World Cup opener at AAMI Park, Bennett outlined his desire to torment Kangaroos rival Mal Meninga and NRL coaches for another term.
Bennett is off contract with the Broncos at the end of 2019 and it was widely expected rugby league’s greatest coach, who turns 68 in January, would walk away.
But as he prepares to lock horns with Meninga, the Maroons legend who controversially beat him for the Australian post, Bennett insists he is not on his last legs as a club and international coach.
Bennett said the challenges of the England job has helped reinvigorate him.
If he signs on with the Broncos for 2020, Bennett will have celebrated his 70th birthday and remarkably enter a sixth decade of coaching after launching his career with Ipswich in the 1970s.
“To be honest, I don’t see the end coming,” Bennett said. “Retiring or finishing up in coaching just isn’t in my head.
“I need to have a discussion down the track with Brisbane about what I want to do but I’m not in any state in my mind that I have to stop coaching the Broncos or even England.
“Age isn’t an issue. I don’t see any reason why I can’t continue coaching at the moment.
“What happens in the future is something I need to discuss with the CEO (Broncos boss Paul White) and the board but I can say there is no immediate plans for me to retire.”
While he has nothing left to prove after winning seven premierships, Bennett faces fresh pressures on dual fronts.
The Broncos are mired in an 11-year title drought, the longest in their history. Bennett returned to Red Hill in 2015.
The expectation now extends offshore, with the British masses banking on Bennett to steer England to World Cup glory after taking charge of the old enemy last year.