James Roberts signs with Rabbitohs after being released by Broncos

I guess it all depends on your perspective, doesn't it Tommy? ;-) Check out my other posts here Tommy and you will see that I still disparage and lampoon the geriatric stick insect. I have also confessed that I have been "Papa Smurf's" most severe critic so sorry if I spoiled that scoop for you my old sparring partner. Bennett's record I quoted above was prior to coming to Souths and you have quoted it to me often enough so I'm simply paying it forward. :-)

Your sudden defence of Bennett, after spending years on ZT bashing on him, is possibly the biggest back flip i have ever seen.

The odd thing here is that you, on this and other sites, have spend years telling everyone who would listen that Bennett is a washed up has been whose record was inflated by state of origin teams and illegal cap breaches. Now he is coaching Souths and doing well, Bennett has magically returned to his status of a master coach and I have to read you recite his stellar record, like you respected his achievements and ability all along.

Jimmy was going great last year and earnt an Origin spot where we saw his impact. Lost interest under Seibold and now being back home and under Wayne wont be at all surprised to see him replace has been Morris after showing he is back to his freeky best. https://youtu.be/J7NqI0HxAJ0

I won’t be taking a knee , love my country

The chip on Insiders shoulder is as big as his ego and he wishes it was as big as something else, isn't that right champ ;)

Maybe I'm more of a cynic then you. If a Manly fan, especially one with the RL aptitude of AE47, told me the Souths Coach was talking to Brisbane, half way through his first season and months before the Broncos announced Bennett would not get a 1yr extension I can't help but be dismissive. If she is married, works for, or hooker too any associate of the Manly club and gave you Manly gossip, fair enough. To pretend she has any knowledge of the inner of all clubs is far fetched at best. Too far for me to espouse as fact on a public forum. If this was "well known inside NRL's inner-circle" it would've been news then as I'm 100% certain AE47 doesn't have the contacts as Buzz, Kent, Weidler...

In regards to what he did to the Titans, I can respect that. But if you recall, the Titans shot themselves in the foot and stuffed his contract making it null and void and giving "the jet" a chance take off from Gold Coast runway.

Just ask Insider (aka AE47). He was the source and he said it was well known inside NRL's inner-circle (where he hangs out waiting for autographs). Although the VB's may have clouded his memory since then. Lately he has been arguing against statements he has made here or on ZT in the past, so he may be genuinely confused. One too many head knocks can do that to you.

So again you ask that we believe that you've got an 'insider', not just to the Manly inner circle but Seibold's and White's mobile phones. If your 'insider' really had this story (or any others you've had the 'insider' word on) why would they waste this on you, this site or ZT? It was huge news when it broke, imagine selling it DT in April? Money baby. Not being able to disprove a 'secret source', a hypothetical or a conspiracy theory doesn't make them correct. Your notions of any person ever going to their boss in the fashion you're referring to are idealist at best. Half way through their first dream gig and you will tell them you want to go home? Have you ever changed jobs where you were not fired? Who tells their boss they've applied for another position without knowing whether they have got it or not? Are you forgetting Seibold was contracted to Souths this year? You're calling him disloyal for not signing an extension 18 months in advance? Please! In looking for a replacement, they had at least 12 months up their sleeves and at least one old coach who would be in need of a job at that time. Richo was the one pushing for the immediate swap.

That's all well and good, but jeezuz. He's a full blown adult on good coin. Can't he just grow the fook up and take control of his own life like the rest of us??

Good luck to him, do want he can to get his career back on track. I have heard many players talk about Wayne Bennett with great affection, this could be the difference for Jimmy. Lots of talent just needs support in other ways... This is a what a quality coach can do for a club with player recruitment. Interestingly NSW may benefit a lot of Bennetts tenure at Souths.

Seibold contacted White in April. I had it confirmed by an "Insider". So that probably lead to the Broncos going down another road and not renewing Bennett's contract. I think the Broncos knew they were long odds of getting Bellamy but tried that option first. Seibold's mistake was not being transparent from the beginning and saying to Richo he wanted to return to Brisbane with his family. That and the fact that at the business end of the season he was distracted by his future coaching prospects and took his eye off the ball (i.e. stuffing his interchange rotation in the last half a dozen games at the Rabbitohs). He played the Rabbitohs for suckers. He was happy to give the club the perception that he would re-sign and extend his contract but instead used their intetest as a bargaining chip and a fall back option in case he didn't get the Broncos job. Then he left Souths with little warning and no other options than to go for a coaching swap. Imagine if Bennett had retired or signed with another club, who would Souths have to choose from? Trent Barrett or Anthony Griffin? It's fortunate for Souths that things turned out as well as they did considering how Seibold kept them in the dark for so long and then gave them little option and little warning at the end.

I'm struggling to see what Seibold has done wrong there. He was offered an extension by Souths and didn't sign it. You don't know the T&Cs of that contract but it obviously wasn't great if he wanted to keep his options open. He didn't approach White in April as the announcement of Bennett's non-extension didn't come out until mid August. Coincidently a few days before Seibold brought Souths to Brisbane (and lose). So he throws his hat in the ring and it was reported that Brisbane were talking to Seibold, among others. Eitherway, with 6 weeks to go until finals, a place Souths had not been for 2 years, so why not put it to bed with the media? Of course he uses Souths ladder position as a bargaining chip, he took them there. Whatever he said complimented what we could all see on the field and he got the gig. It's not disloyal not to sign a contract you are not happy with. It's is just dumb to turn away from an opportunity with an employer with 1000 more professional and personal benefits.

James Roberts is one of my favourite players on the field, but a nightmare off it. I don't know if going back to Sydney is good for him but only time will tell. One thing to me is player managers and CEO s are not to be trusted. Richardson said he's coming home but this is the club that got rid of him some years ago. My major concern is who do the Broncos get to replace him. Maybe Zalezniak might end up in brisbane. Losing Bird was a big blow that's why losing Roberts is a double blow. In saying that with Bird out White didn't hesitate to off load him.

The Titans gave him a job but done nothing to help with his problems. He wa still playing up just as hard there and during the transition into the Broncos squad. He is not only a better, rep quality player for coming to Brisbane, he's a better person.

Gordon Tallis was another made to sit out by the "win at all cost mob". Tell me which player from South of the boarder has sat out a season/ SO Series at the hands of a Southern clubs spite? I know how many Queensland Maroons have you Southern mob been happy to see leave the game? Sailor, Rodgers,Thorn, Barnes, Hunt and Filou to name a few. Sonny and Benji were allowed to walk and come back for the Southern powers. The mighty south moved fast with TPA's when Joe Johns mentioned going somewhere else? How many times does has the South changed the eligiblity rules to strengthen their pathetic Team? Sterling, Nagas and Taumo, best of 3, or no more draws, our Ref.

Roberts had 2 yrs to go on his deal I believe? Was released by his club and 2 minutes later has signed a new deal? How is this allowed? Souths or anyone aren't allowed to be talking to him this is basically the same as the Klemmer deal to the knights and the NRL can't just sit and watch. What stops the Tigers or Dogs talking to Ponga now?

There are so many instances of non queensland players and clubs doing everything they can to win it's not funny. Jarrod Hayne and Bird welcomed back after doing things that should have seen them removed from ever playing the game again. The Alex McKinnon tragedy was dragged out by the Southern media right before Origin to paint Cameron Smith in a bad light and generate hate and sell tickets before the series kicked off which is beyond words IMO. They made a terrible injury into a deformation case against a player that actual had no part in the actual tackle? Obviously you bought that crap. Anyway it's origin time and us Queenslanders are not allowed to talk to you dirty South ern infidels.

So no love, or respect, for the ONLY coach in the club's history to have brought the Broncos any measure of success? Bennett coached the Broncos for 627 games and delivered 5 premierships and 4 minor premierships (the ONLY premierships the club has ever won!) Bennett had a 64% winning record during his first 532 game stint at Red Hill and a 64% winning record in his 95 game return to the Broncos. That's pretty much the benchmark for consistency in coaching in the modern era. Currently Bennett's winning record at the Rabbitohs is 90% (touch wood). The man who replaced Bennett at Red Hill, Anthony Seibold, currently has a 45% winning record and just 3 weeks ago was 25%! Btw, even when Seibold won the "Dally M Coach of the Year" in 2018 at the Rabbitohs his winning record was still just 63% and that was for a meager 27 games compared to Bennett's 532 and 95 game stints at Red Hill. Winning over an extended period of time is much, much harder. Bennett also took the Broncos to the GF in 2015 and, but for the hands of Ben Hunt and the inability of Hunt and Milford to just hold the ball and play safety first and wind down the clock in the Broncos last possession with 90 seconds remaining, the Broncos would have been premiers in 2015. The rush of blood by Milford and Hunt to throw the ball around rather than locking it up was hardly Bennett's fault. As for the Bunnies being enemy number 1 for QLD fans, well if YOU speak for ALL QLD fans ("North Koreans") you must be Kim Jong-un! The only person with a worse haircut than Andrew Fifita and Josh Dugan and at least Dugan came to his senses and had the mullett shaved off! LOL