St. George Illawarra Dragons’ coach Wayne Bennett (centre) with Jamie Soward andf Trent Merrin celebrate thier teams win over Sydney Roosters during the NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Oct. 3, 2010. Dragons defeated the Roosters 32 to 8. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Wayne Bennett enjoys his privacy. Nathan Tinkler enjoys his privacy. The media hates privacy. These three statements sum up why the analysis of Wayne Bennett’s move to Newcastle has ranged from utterly dire to completely pointless.
It seems that journos know about as much as the average punter. The average punter in Newcastle who has had ten schooners and knows a bloke who went to school with a bloke who was mates with a bloke who once bumped into Nathan Tinkler probably knows more.
Let’s take a look at the analysis from some of the agencies around the country.
Paul Crawley from the Courier Mail revealed that Tinkler showed what a world-class negotiator he was when he had a limo pick up Wayne from the Gong and drive him to Martin Place.
Now, maybe it’s the fact that I’m currently not on a hens’ night, but I can’t get that excited about the concept of sitting in a limo in Sydney traffic for hours on end, even if the journey does end with some bloke offering me a huge wedge of cash.
I also doubt Wayne would have taken the opportunity to slug back a few bottles of Moët and get the dance tracks firing while opening the moon roof for a bit of grandstanding, as per the standard behavioural practice in limos today.
Surely if you were a world-class negotiator you might actually get off your arse and get down to the Gong yourself.
And while on the topic of Tinkler and his skills, the fact that he had a bigger pile of money than anyone else in the race somewhat detracts from the idea of the big fella as a great negoitiator.
In all this, the big question remains unanswered. Does Nathan Tinkler’s limo have a karaoke machine?
The Sydney Morning Herald wheeled out Roy Masters to offer his insight.
Masters, ever the Dragons fan, claimed that it was pressure from the Dragons that ensured Bennett went to Newcastle.
Masters rambled on about the history between Souths and the Dragons before saying that Ben Hornby had told Bennett that he’d be beaten when they played their first match against his old club.
Ouch! This was beside a few other gags from various officials.
I’m struggling to see how a few zingers around the lunch room were going to sway a bloke like Bennett, especially when his contract contains six zeros and it’s likely he’ll take all the staff members he respects anyway.
The Australian rang up a bunch of Souths greats (much to my dismay Eion Crossan didn’t get a guernsey) to get their two cents’ worth.
Bob McCarthy showed he has probably not been keeping up with economic events in Europe over the past few years when he said “they probably threw the Bank of England at him.” It’s not quite the proposition it might have once been.
The ever-reliable George Piggins piped up.
Piggins, who when not telling you how he refuses to watch Souths play is explaining their problems in intricate detail, told us you couldn’t blame him for taking the money – even though that is what he was outraged Souths had done a few years back.
But the most illuminating comment about the whole affair came from the executive chairman of the Tinkler Sports Group, Ken Edwards, when he told the Oz: “I want to put on the record that this deal is not about the money.”
We now know one thing. It was about the money.
It’s like African dictatorships, if they have to tell you they are a Democratic Republic you know that is one thing they aren’t.
Sure, there have been plenty of weasel words about vision and passion floating around, but they would have accounted for precisely zero if Tinkler did not have the bucks to back it up.
What I can’t figure out is why the shame?
They went bananas when Tinkler bought them out precisely because they thought they could spend money like a drunken sailor on the town.
Many of the working class fans of Newcastle might be a little turned off by the idea that their salt-of-the-earth club that was built on the image of the humble, hard-working coal miner, is now the glamour club flashing the cash. But that is the reality.
If it helps people sleep better at night to believe that Wayne Bennett ignored the money and loves the area and the people, then go for it.
But Wayne Bennett, being the father of two disabled children, wants to ensure that futures of those kids are secured, so he has always made sure he is paid a princely sum.
That is hardly a hanging offence: you show me a father who doesn’t think about his kids when thinking about his pay packet.
Maybe Bennett is a mercenary, but who cares. He is a rugby league coach, he’s not building the A-bomb.
We’ll probably never know everything that went on between Nathan Tinkler and Wayne Bennett, but in the end all that matters is that Bennett will hold the clipboard in Newcastle for the next four seasons and he’ll be richly rewarded for it.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"My understanding of a mercenary is someone who chases money for personal gain without any thought to morality." Exactly, which is why it is a ridiculous term in the context of sport. Even if he had 3 abled children, or for that matter, no family at all, he can't be called a mercenary. Afterall, how is morality connected to which club Bennett chooses to coach? Bennett may or may not be money driven, but if he is, I don't get what the problem with that would be.
Danno1
Guest
Superb Bilbo! As well as buy whatever he wants Nathan certainly looks like he eats whatever he wants, I suspect Brian Smith would be a junior meal for him.
Phil Osopher
Guest
Well it must be a nightmare to have to fill a space on a page and have nothing to actually say. But hey, isn't that sports journalism full stop? Isnt that modern journalism - Fox style - full stop. I've grown used to that sort of thing long ago. Nice to point it out though.
jamesb
Guest
The knights have been struggling since joey retired in 2007. The knights have been living on scraps, however things are changing in Newcastle. In september/october last year, Nathan Tinkler took over the jets and has done some wonderful things, like discount ticket prices, reverse sponsorship and beckhams galaxy playing the jets back in November last year. Then two weeks ago, Tinkler assumes control of the Knights with 97% of the vote in his favour. And of course a couple of days ago , the Knights announce that Wayne Bennett will coach the knights from 2012 for 4 years. Also while this is going on, the newcastle stadium has had a new grandstand thats been open, (which was 90% completed) for their opening home game against, ironically a wayne bennett coached dragons side. In the long run, Newcastles stadium, capacity 33,000 when completed will be one of the best stadiums going around in Australia. But for now its all about Nathan Tinkler. Its been the case since september/october last year when he took over the jets. I've seen it in the paper somewhere, so its not original. With Tinkler bankrolling things, it is a case of Benny and the Jets
Brett McKay
Guest
great stuff Steve, I almost felt as relieved as Bennett must have after it was said and done, because I feared for the lives of some of the journos - there's was so much "oh my god, oh my god, he's going to NEWCASTLLLLLLEE!!" by the end of it that I thought some were going to blow a gasket or something.. And now, they've turned their attention to Tim Sheens...
bilbo
Guest
Good article Steve. I think we can speculate all we like - the money was probably a factor, but Wayne has plenty of money from a long history of associating with some of Australia's richest men - but I think the idea of building up an area like Newcastle to being somewhere like the Broncos are now, would have been attractive to Wayne. Who knows - maybe they threw the cash? Maybe Tinkler promised to eat Brian Smith? But the Knights will definitely be in a much better position when Wayne leaves than when he arrived.
Chris
Guest
The reality is Wayne Bennett was going to get paid a fortune wherever he went. So in that sense I don't think the decision to join the Knights was about the money. So if the money side of things was more or less equal, the next most important thing was what are the chances of each team being a serious challenger for the premiership. Clearly he thought the Knights. Fair call Wayne...
jamesb
Guest
good point sheek At the end of the day, Bennett and his wife won't be around forever, so at least he'll provide security for his disabled children in the long run.
jmo
Guest
My contract also contains six zeros .. they forgot to put a number in front of them but I'm sure it's just a clerical error. "this deal is not about the money" - he might as well have said "this pork chop is not about the pork!". I wonder if TSG initially offered less and he bargained them up, or if they straight away offered a number he couldn't say no to. I doubt if Bennett would have knocked back Saints, Broncos and Souths had he not had at least some kind of informal agreement with TSG; it's probably been a semi done deal for a long time and he was just biding his time for NT to finally buy the NKs. Who knows. We'll just have to wait for the book I guess.
sheek
Guest
My understanding of a mercenary is someone who chases money for personal gain without any thought to morality. If Bennett chases the top dollar to ensure his two disabled children have the best care available, I would hardly consider that mercenary. The flip side is that with 3 normal children he wouldn't be so money driven, I would suspect. I can understand Bennett's position. At the end of the day, the only reliable people to help in these situations, where you have less than fully normal family members to look after, is your family. They're there 24/7, through good & bad times. But I agree all the media attention is quite ridiculous. Media has become so voracious for content, it is shredding the truth &/or accuracy of reporting with contemptuous disdain.
TF
Guest
Good on the Knights. Ive always had a soft spot for Newcastle, and with Bennett coming on board with the team they already have, plus the players that will follow Bennet (Boyd, etc) they'll be right amongst it
Joe
Guest
He took the money. So he should. And Tinkler was the best negotiator because he had the most money. I know I'd think my boss was a pretty good negotiator if he threw a lot of money at me!