On last week's The Knock On Podcast from Zero Tackle, which I'd streamed to my television for my viewing pleasure, show co-host Terry said the following about super coach Wayne Bennett:
“I don't (even) consider Wayne Bennett elite anymore, because of how things ended at Brisbane, how things didn't work out for him at the Dolphins, South Sydney not going so good at the moment, I think Wayne Bennett is the greatest coach of all time, but at current, he's being pegged back."
Despite being one of Wayne Bennett's biggest fans, I resisted the urge to throw objects at the television upon hearing this.
Wayne Bennett, already very much up there, cemented his place in my personal coaching hall of fame when he took England, the country of my birth, to the 2017 World Cup final in what is now my home city, Brisbane.
Like so many of my fellow countrymen and women that day, I ventured down Caxton Street convinced it would be the same old story that we would see unfolding. The one where England or Great Britain haven't won a World Cup since 1972, or beaten the Aussies in a series since 1970.
Indeed, in the opening fixture of that tournament, England had been beaten 18-4 by the old enemy and, in all honesty, they were lucky it was that close, as a clunky Australia blew off some cobwebs to get the campaign started.
The history books tell us that Australia went on to win their eleventh World Cup title. England vanquished once again. Same old story, I hear you say.
Yet, sat in the Suncorp Stadium stands during that game, my heart was pounding for the majority of the eighty minutes. To put that into some context, my heart only ever pounds if I have consumed too much caffeine, or when I am coaching a game, not watching one.
My beverage of choice that evening didn't contain caffeine. Indeed, coffee wasn't being served in a plastic pint glass, so I plumped for beers instead. As a result, I was, erm, relaxed, prior to kick-off.
At half-time, the scoreline was 6-0 Australia. By the 64th minute, the game was still 6-0. What was going on? Why weren't Australia running away with this?
On 65 minutes, Kalum Watkins – the Englishman who had a very uneventful two years at the Titans a few years ago – made a break on the right side of the field, he had Elliott Whitehead in support on the inside, with only the fullback to beat.
But winger Josh Dugan sneaked up behind and ankle tapped him. It was to be the ultimate match-winning moment for the Kangaroos.
There were no points scored in the second half. Despite being yet another defeat, it was to be the closest England had ever got to winning the World Cup since 1972, and the second time I had seen us get so close to breaking the duck. In 1990, Ricky Stuart and Mal Meninga broke our hearts in the dying moments of the second Ashes Test.
Wayne Bennett's boys had brought this Englishman back to his childhood, when the British boys coached by Mal Reilly truly had the Kangaroos on the ropes. It was one of the best and most gutsy performances I had ever seen from the national side in almost half a century on this earth.
If you're from Australia, imagine your state not winning State of Origin, or even looking like they would throughout your lifetime, then getting this close, and you might be able to empathise.
Bennett had got this Pommy team to do all the little things, right. The little things that are the big things, but they don't often feature on highlight packages, and they certainly didn't always feature in England teams of the past.
Kick-chase, consistency of collision and ruck control, backtracking and scrambling defence, pressuring the opposition kicker, pushing up in support of the ball carrier in attack, movement off the ball, quality kicking and so much more.
He was eliciting these performances only two years after bringing his Brisbane Broncos to golden-point in the 2015 Grand Final, nine years after being the last coach to get them to the big one. Blame Jonathan Thurston's boot for him losing out in 2015.
In 2019, Bennett started the first of his three-seasons in his first stint at the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs. By 2021, they were competing in their first Grand Final in seven years, and their second for a lifetime. This time, an intercept from Penrith's Stephen Crichton was the difference in a 14-12 loss.
He was named as the inaugural coach of the Dolphins and, despite missing out on so many marquee signings, they won their first three matches of their existence.
In round 8 of 2023, they equalled the greatest comeback in premiership history to defeat the Titans, 28–26.
In his second year at the helm, they finished tenth, narrowly missing out on the finals. They had improved on their opening season finish, though. They were also widely labelled a huge expansion success for the NRL.
When Souths had dropped considerably during his three-year absence, they didn't call the unemployed club coach Michael Maguire, the man that had got them the 2014 premiership, their first in 43 years no less.
They wanted Wayne back.
It's obvious he is improving the Rabbitohs again. With a squad no-one has tipped for anything special and with injuries galore, his fitter and hungrier squad have six wins on the board, but their losses have seen them fighting hard.
They are not downing tools, as evidenced as recently as their Round 15 effort against the ladder leading Bulldogs.
It would be a brave person to bet against Souths not getting better year on year.
Terry was right in one regard about the fact things didn't end greatly for Bennett at Brisbane. But, one out of the box Grand Final appearance in 2023 apart, things haven't gone well for the Broncos since his departure, either.
Ask Anthony Seibold, Kevin Walters and Michael Maguire how easy that coaching job is!
If Ben Hunt would have caught the kick-off during golden point in 2015, if Josh Dugan was six-inches further behind the play in 2017, or Stephen Crichton was too tired to read the play in 2021, we would be talking about a coach who had won his eighth then ninth NRL Premiership and England's first ever World Cup*.
Nobody envisaged Dolphins being competitive when they eventually took to the field in their inaugural season. They are firmly entrenched in the competition now.
And Souths are better than they were last season, without doubt.
If Wayne Bennett has been pegged back, he hasn't been pegged back that far.
Oh, hang on, I have forgotten something!
Remember the so called, ‘worst ever Queensland side' in history? 2020 that was.
"On behalf of the worst-ever Queensland team, thank you very much," said Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans before lifting the shield after clinching the series (in happier times for him).
The biggest betting companies were offering $3.25 for the Maroons to win the deciding Origin game that year. That's a lot for a two-horse race.
They fielded four debutants in that game, and fourteen new caps in the series. They included Philip Sami, Brenko Lee, Corey Allen, and Edrick Lee.
They'd all never played for the Maroons before, and guess how many Origin games those four have played since that series?
Wayne Bennett is still very much elite.
