Laughing. Cheering. Backslapping. They are not actions associated with departing Broncos coach Wayne Bennett.

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Indeed Bennett is usually less animated in the public eye than the unfortunate lead in Weekend at Bernies.

Yet there Bennett was, carrying on like a kid in the coach’s box as Broncos forward Ben Hannant crashed over for what would have been the match-sealing try against Melbourne in their knockout NRL finals win at Suncorp Stadium.

Then the “no try” call came through.

Normal service resumed as a stony-faced Bennett returned to his seat.

He would have been forgiven for falling off it when Melbourne scored with 46 seconds left to claim a 16-14 win to abruptly end Bennett’s remarkable 21-year Broncos reign.

Yet Bennett predictably reckoned he was “not emotional at all” about the curtain coming down on his Brisbane tenure.

Not after helping build the club from scratch in 1988 and watching them win six premierships.

Not after 19 finals series, including 17 straight from 1992.

Or 526 games at the Broncos helm.

Bennett even seemed to be kicking himself that he had dropped his guard to the world after the Hannant “try”.

“I thought Ben Hannant had been awarded the try … but I realised he didn’t so I sat myself down, got back in control and nothing has changed,” he said.

It sure hadn’t.

Bennett was at his surly best when he arrived for the one aspect of coaching duty he always detested - dealing with the media.

When pressed on how he felt after relinquishing the Broncos reins in heartbreaking circumstances, Bennett snapped on Saturday night: “I had 21 years here guys, it was never going to go down to one game - can you get that into your heads?”

Much had been made of the build-up to Bennett’s last Broncos game at Suncorp Stadium.

Even he must have agreed it was less than ideal preparation - sexual assault claims levelled at three players and his own skipper Darren Lockyer featuring in CCTV footage of a Brisbane bar manager being tackled.

In a bid to return the focus to football, Lockyer fronted the media outside Suncorp Stadium just hours before last night’s game and admitted he was the man in the grainy CCTV footage.

The steely resolve Lockyer showed as he stared down the TV cameras before the match dissolved as Greg Inglis crossed for the last-gasp winner.

He put his hands on his head, cursed to the heavens before joining his shattered teammates slumped on the ground even before Cameron Smith could line up the conversion.

“This is the hardest one (loss),” said Lockyer.

He looked inconsolable as he fronted the media, shattered to know that they had given a sad farewell to the likes of Bennett and Broncos veteran Tonie Carroll.

But Bennett tried to make it sound like it was business as usual.

“I’m not emotional at all to be quite honest, I’m disappointed, but not emotional,” said Bennett who leaves to take the reins at St George Illawarra.

“You have always been worried about how I am going to go out.

“I am more disappointed about losing a football game than leaving the place.”

But Lockyer couldn’t get his head around last night’s result, let alone Bennett’s departure.

“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, we are all a bit shellshocked. The next couple of days we will start thinking about who is leaving,” he said.

“It has been a great journey, unfortunately it ends.”

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy - a former Broncos assistant under Bennett - was more succinct about the foundation Brisbane coach’s legacy.

“What he has brought to that club and kept driving into the club, it won’t go away because he has gone,” he said.

“I’m sure his legacy will stay there - he has certainly done one hell of a job.”

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