It would not have been easy for Wayne Bennett to select the Newcastle Knights over the South Sydney Rabbitohs, as the challenge to be the first Rugby League coach to win three Premierships at three different clubs was known to be a burning ambition from people close to him.
Despite the form in this year’s competition, the Rabbitohs have a superior list and the opportunity to create history would have been an easier task for Bennett.
The other area that would have concerned Bennett would have been that he will “grass cut” the current Knights coach Rick Stone, a fact that also weighed heavily on him when he rejected the Bronco opportunity, as Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin is a Bennett protégé.
Bennett would be uncomfortable doing a fellow coach out of a job.
All that aside, when the crunch came and all the cards were on the table, high profile Rabbitoh’s owner Russell Crowe was out sold.
The academy award winner is used to winning and getting his man, but he went down the wrong path with his sales pitch.
Crowe could offer close to $1m and his Woolloomooloo penthouse and the very attractive fact that his current coach was retiring at the end of the season, so a transition would be seamless.
He would also be close to favourite to win the 2012 NRL Premiership in red and green.
It is estimated that the new Knights owner Nathan Tinkler has about $750m more in his bank account than Russell Crowe and if Bennett could happen to win next year’s Premiership with the Knights, he could earn four times the amount that was tabled by the Rabbitohs if he hit all the incentive bonuses.
Money is important in any sales pitch but with Bennett, the Tinkler pitch did their homework and focused on something more important to Bennett than anything that money can buy – his family.
Bennet’s son in law Ben Ikin is believed to be the ace in the Tinkler pack of cards that made it impossible for Bennett to reject. It was an opportunity for Ikin and Bennett’s daughter Elizabeth to be set up for life. Blood is thicker than water.
Bennett’s next new boss Nathan Tinkler is noted for being a “control freak” and wanting to have his say in everything.
When he first ventured into horse racing he kept making headlines by continuing to sack his trainers. If he tries to have his say when Bennett is at the helm, the Knight’s could find Stone back in charge as Bennett is also a “control freak”, and what he says goes.
The other challenge is that Tinkler has invested heavily into horse racing and been known to love a bet. Bennett is down on anyone who bets and has apparently refused to shake hands with punters in the past.
Current Knights coach Rick Stone has made it clear that he would be happy to drop back and play second fiddle to Bennett next year, but privately he is a shattered man, something that will not sit well with Bennett.
This is a massive opportunity for the Knights to snare the greatest Rugby League coach of all time. It remains to be seen if two “control freaks” can get on long term. One of them will have to bite their tongue.
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