When Wayne Bennett announced he was to going leave the Dragons for Newcastle, a gloom descended upon my soul. The man who had taken us to the promised land was going to banish us once again to the wasteland of mid-table mediocrity.
For three years the Dragons had undergone a radical transformation. A team of talented, yet misfiring players became the model of consistency.
Gone were the dropped balls and needless penalties. Our goaline was impenetrable, we dominated the advantage line, even the ref seemed to be on our side (yes, I will now admit some of those Soward passes were a bit iffy).
Under the Bennett regime, watching games was no longer a tortuous experience in direct violation of the Geneva convention. I am convinced that Wayne added back years to my life expectancy. My blood pressure went down, hairs stopped turning grey, and I even took up yoga.
Sunny afternoons at Jubillee seemed to go on forever. Beers tasted crisper, the pies were less stale and even The Footy Show‘s comedy seemed nuanced and insightful.
But the puzzling part of this turnaround was the manner in which it was achieved. It was so simple: don’t drop the ball, don’t give away needless penalties, and don’t miss tackles.
Although I would like to point out that I had been screaming this advice from the sidelines for years with admittedly less successful results.
So when 2012 rolled around I hoped things might not be too bad. Bennett had installed a pretty straight forward plan, so it shouldn’t be too hard to emulate, right? Wrong.
It was only Round 2 before we got smashed by the Bulldogs in probably the worst game I had seen in over three years. It was the Dragons of old – dropped balls, needless penalties and missed tackles.
The Bennett era was over and this is what I had to look forward to. Curse you, Wayne.
But now as we head into week five, there is cause for optimism. That thrashing by the Bulldogs is looking like an anomaly following dominating wins over the Tigers and the Sea Eagles.
Perhaps we will succeed without Saint Benny. I have tentatively booked a yoga session for next week. I believe.
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