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Someone out there really, really wants to blast Wayne Bennett out of Brisbane.
That’s the only explanation why the details of Brisbane’s monstrous offer to Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy became public yesterday.
It would also explain why the lead-up to one of Bennett’s major milestones as coach has been completely railroaded after James Hooper broke the story on Fox Sports.
If the numbers being bandied about are reliable, Brisbane has been negotiating a ‘godfather’ offer Bellamy can’t refuse: reportedly well over $5 million for four years.
It’s no secret Brisbane have wanted Bellamy in maroon and gold for as long as he’s been in the coaching game. The only surprise is that it’s taken them this long to throw this cash at him.
The Storm have moved quickly to tell the world they tabled a three-year extension to Bellamy in April, worth around $1.25 million per year.
There is a sticking point, though. Bellamy is off contract at the end of this season, Bennett at the end of 2019.
So if the Broncos intend to bring Bellamy in and cut ties with their longest serving and most decorated coach, it’s going to cost them a lot of money.
Even then, they’ll need to negotiate Bennett’s exit. I would love to be a fly on a wall for those conversations.
Wayne Bennett (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)
The Broncos demand success and won’t hesitate to pay the cost if they think it betters their chances at another premiership.
They don’t care that Bennett’s team was two seconds from the 2015 premiership. They haven’t won a title since 2006 and with expectations as they are at Red Hill, that might as well have been 1922.
In true, inimitable style, Bennett will charge straight into this battle. Chances are by the time you’ve read this, he’s held a press conference and dared Brisbane to cut him, doubling down on his position and contract.
There’s also a chance, admittedly a very small one, that Bennett will tell them all to get bent and walk away.
One thing that I can guarantee is that he’ll pot the media for reporting the story.
While his contempt for the press is legendary, Bennett’s more recent statements portray a man genuinely at the limits of tolerance of the whole NRL theatre.
With decades of experience in the NRL system comes a deep understanding of how things work. For all we know, the Bennett camp got a sniff of the Bellamy offer and moved quickly to blow things up to get clarity about his position. It’s a theory, but not outside the realm of possibility.
The spotlight on Bennett has never been more intense since he returned to Brisbane in 2015 from a relatively unhappy stint at Newcastle.
Bennett was even more in focus when it became apparent that he’d stood up St George Illawarra, who were certain they had reached a deal for the return of their 2010 premiership mentor.
Regardless of Brisbane’s results, Bennett is under pressure. Combined with his well-publicised personal issues, you couldn’t blame him for thinking that he doesn’t need this crap in his life.
(When I say this, I don’t suggest for a second that Bennett’s done with coaching. See his reaction as Jamayne Isaako crossed for the winning try last Friday and tell me he’s had enough. It’s the peripheral stuff that he can do without.)
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This Thursday, Bennett coaches his 800th game. Since 1987 he’s won seven premierships at a winning rate of 62 per cent. It’s a phenomenal record of sustained success (somewhat ironically, the only current coach who could match it is Bellamy).
But instead of celebrating this historic rugby league milestone, we’re rolling out possibly premature eulogies for the man’s coaching career.
The impact of this news stretches all the way down the eastern seaboard to Melbourne. They’re at a critical juncture as club stalwarts and leaders like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Ryan Hoffman start to wind down.
Melbourne’s future planning needs Bellamy to keep things on track. It’s Bellamy and football manager Frank Ponissi who are mainly responsible for the foundations the club sits upon.
Losing Bellamy would be a hammer blow to the setup and all the talk about ‘succession planning’ with assistant coach Adam O’Brien can’t hide that.
Bellamy is a master motivator and tactician who has turned the rugby league outpost into the most feared club in the game. Journeymen and role players go to Bellamy and become something more than they were, the list of case studies too long to mention.
Bellamy leaving would set the club back and chief executive officer Dave Donaghy knows it, hence the $1.25 million offer.
There’s also a flow-on effect. Melbourne, Queensland and Australian five-eighth Cameron Munster is in the middle of contract negotiations. Reports this week spun us the usual ‘we’re close to an agreement’ words but with Bellamy now likely to go, Munster would be smart to put his pen back in his pocket for a little while.
AAP Image/David Mariuz
Billy Slater and Cameron Smith are both off contract, too.
We’re all realistic about the business of rugby league. Everyone goes into this sport with their eyes wide open. Bellamy would be mad to refuse the security the Broncos offer provides and would inherit a quality squad in the game’s biggest market.
Outside of Storm fans, no one is going to feign shock if he heads north.
But whether Bellamy signs or not, the relationship between Bennett and the Broncos is untenable. Bennett can’t stay there knowing that they tried to blast him out.
Whether that was the club’s intention, we can only guess.
What I do know is that if this is the end for Bennett, this is not how he should be going out. His career and his legacy to the game deserves far better.
But with his iron-willed character grinding against Brisbane’s priorities, it was always going to be this way.