Veteran NRL coach Wayne Bennett has squashed rumours that he will leave South Sydney at the end of the year.
It comes as rumours have been circulating that Bennett may leave his current club to join the embattled New Zealand Warriors, Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs or a shock return to his former club St George Illawarra.ย
โHow many times do I have to put it to bed? I donโt start it and then Iโve got to put it to bed. It does my head in, mate,โ Bennett told reporters on Wednesday.ย
โIf Iโm going to change clubs, Iโll let you all know about it. Thatโs not happening.
โIโm here til 2021 and I want to be here til 2021. I enjoy this club, I work with a great group of people - the staff and the players - and Iโm happy here so why am I going to want to go somewhere else right now?
โI donโt have a manager. I donโt have management. Iโm a grown man, I donโt need someone to hold my hand for me,โ he said.
ย โAre you hard of hearing? I said the same things last week. I donโt want to keep repeating myself. You guys make up the stories, you make the headlines but I donโt have to play your game.
โIโm not going to continually go out to defend myself. I went through this rubbish at Brisbane for 12 months there and they kept telling me I had a job there and they sacked me.
โItโs terribly destabilising,โ he said of the rumours.ย
โIt does nothing for anybody and itโs not generated by me because Iโm not going anywhere - Iโm staying here.
โI never intimated to anybody that Iโm going anywhere.โ
โI never intimated to anybody that Iโm going anywhere.โ Ahahahahahaha Wayne will do whatever Wayne wants to do. He knows that other clubs are keen on him, so if he does get punted by Soufths he won’t have any problem getting a coaching gig at another NRL club.
He is the supreme tactician. He waits for others to come to him.