South Sydney Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett has continued the pile on against the PNG Chiefs over their tax exemptions.
The exemptions, which are already in effect with the club nabbing five signatures months out from the November 1 deadline they were supposed to be able to begin locking up players for their inaugural season in 2028, will effectively give the club millions of extra dollars to play with.
The move to allow PNG the money was viewed as the only way to convince players to leave Australia and relocate to Port Moresby, but the rhetoric in recent days has shifted, with some suggesting the integrity of the competition will now be called into question.
The Chiefs and Australian government have defended the decision, but the game's longest tenured and most successful coach added to the pile on at his media opportunity on Saturday, saying the playing field is no longer level.
“You don't have to ask me whether it's a level playing field or not,'' Bennett said on Saturday per News Corp.
“How can one mob get a tax exemption over everybody in the competition?
“I'll tell you what really p's me about it is, that we've had clubs lose competitions, we've had clubs lose points over salary cap breaches.
“That's how strictly they (NRL) value the salary cap and it's what has given us the game we've got today because each club has the same amount of money to spend.
“And all of a sudden you've got a team that has a different salary cap. It's just not right.
“I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: It's just not right. It's not fair.''
Bennett is in a qualified position to talk about the Chiefs.
He brought the Dolphins into the competition in 2023, but also coached the Brisbane Broncos on their entry, and spent time at the Canberra Raiders.
He was also at one stage being courted to coach the PNG side, although it never eventuated with Willie Peters being appointed, while former journalist Michael Chammas was given the keys to the director of football role by the Australian Rugby League Commission.
The Chiefs have already signed Zac Lomax, Alex Johnston, Connor Watson, Matty Lees and now Zac Lomax for their inaugural season, while they are believed to be in talks with Joseph Manu, and were given permission briefly to negotiate with Cameron Munster.
Those talks have now been kicked down the road to November 1, but Storm chairman Matt Tripp said last week his club wouldn't be able to compete for Munster's signature if the Chiefs came to the table with a proper bid.
Bennett added that the expansion clubs he has seen all came into the competitions with the same rules as anyone else.
The Dolphins struggled to sign the team they wanted for their inaugural season, but remained competitive, and are now well on track for a maiden finals appearance this year.
The Perth Bears, meanwhile, are also struggling ahead of their inaugural season in 2027, and while they recently got a small salary cap exemption, it will pale in comparison to what the Chiefs are working with.
