Wayne Bennett has officially signed the paperwork to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs, sparking discussions about reuniting with Sam Burgess.
Parramatta attempted to pursue seven-time premiership winner Bennett before he accepted a three-year contract worth approximately $3 million at Souths.
“I know where I stood for ages. I like that part of Sydney, I like Souths and the people there, the fans ... it's a great club. Because you've already got relationships with people there in key positions, it makes it a lot easier”, Bennett said to Sydney Morning Herald.
The temporary step-in coach, Ben Hornby, will remain in his position until the end of the season.
“He's not my opposition [this year]. He's got the easiest coaching job in the NRL right now in the sense I'll be there with him next year, he's trying to hold the club together, [and] he's doing a really good job, while waiting for the new coach to come in when the new season starts," Bennett said.
Souths veteran Burgess departed the club late last season due to differences with former coach Jason Demetriou regarding what he perceived as special treatment given to Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker.
Burgess is currently under contract with Warrington until 2025 but aims to extend his stay until the end of 2026. Following that, he could rejoin Souths alongside Bennett for his final year as Souths coach.
“Sam is doing a great job at Warrington, and he needs that time and space over there to do that. We'll see what the future holds. He's a damn good person.”
Bennett has emphasised that coaching the Dolphins for the rest of the year before transitioning to a rival club will be smooth, asserting it will be an "easy transition.”
Following Demetriou's recent departure, Souths moved swiftly to secure coaching legend Bennett to return back to the club.
Bennett's coaching tenure with the club has been highly impactful, leading them to the preliminary finals in 2019 and 2020, followed by a grand final appearance in 2021, where they were defeated by Penrith.
“On behalf of the board of the Rabbitohs, we look forward to welcoming Wayne back to the club, and to finishing off what we got so close to achieving in 2021”, Souths Chairman Nick Pappas said in a club statement.
The Rabbitohs made every effort to bring Bennett back to Souths and vigorously competed to secure his return even amongst the discussions of his potential move to Parramatta.
The 74-year-old coach made it clear that his preference was to return to the Rabbitohs and not begin a new journey with Parramatta. This message was communicated to South Sydney CEO Blake Solly.
