Wayne Bennett is set to have no shortage of suitors to continue his head coaching career when he finishes in his current role at the Dolphins at the end of 2024.
AAP has spoken to key figures involved with several NRL franchise bids vying to be part of an expanded 18-team competition, possibly as soon as 2026.
All have said that 73-year-old seven-time premiership winner Bennett would be in the frame as head coach should expansion get the go ahead.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has outlined plans for a 20-team competition in the next decade but the race to be the 18th club is set to be hotly contested.
Perth, a third Brisbane team linked with the Tigers Group, North Sydney Bears, Newtown Jets, Papua New Guinea, Pasifika and a second New Zealand team are all among candidates, with some bid teams further along in their plans than others.
Bennett will be a free agent when his assistant Kristian Woolf takes over as top Dolphin at the end of 2024.
In 2018 when Bennett held a lengthy press conference at the end of his tenure at the Brisbane Broncos, just weeks before he was announced as South Sydney coach, he was asked if he intended to keep coaching.
“I’m not a social person. What else would I do?” he grinned at the time.
Reminded of that comment by AAP, and asked whether he would be carried out of coaching in a coffin, Bennett replied: “I don’t know. I’ve got no idea, but I’ll tell you this much … when I’ve stopped enjoying it and I don’t want to do it anymore, I won’t do it. I’m not at that place yet.”
Bennett said he was yet to decide if he would put his hand up to coach a new franchise.
“I don’t have a position on that just yet one way or the other,” he said. “I have got a contract here until the end of next year and then we’ll work it out.”
However, Bennett hasn’t planned on retiring.
“No, I’ll let you know when I am going to do that,” he grinned.
Shane Richardson, former Souths general manager of football when Bennett was coach, is a consultant to the Easts Group in Brisbane which submitted the Brisbane Firehawks bid to be the 17th team.
“Wayne is a great coach, a great team builder and a great club builder. We had him in line as our coach for the 17th team when Redcliffe (the Dolphins) appointed him,” Richardson said.
“Whether we call our team the Firehawks is something for the club to decide but we want everyone to know that the Easts Group we will be putting our hand up to be the 18th team.
“It is up to Wayne to decide what he does when his stint finishes at Redcliffe but he will certainly be in the frame again for us … as the greatest coach in the history of the game.
“He runs five kilometres at least every morning. He watches his diet. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. If anybody is going to last until 100 it is Wayne.
“Whether he is still coaching then is another matter, but you wouldn’t underestimate what he can do. The more people write him off the better he gets.”
League legend Billy Moore is on the board of North Sydney and says Bennett would be “at the top of the list” of potential coaches.
Moore said Bennett’s track record showed he wanted to leave “a footprint” and “legacy” on the game.
“If Wayne wanted to leave his footprints in the sand in the form of a Bears entity it would be great to have him on board,” Moore said.
“That’s because of his expert knowledge, his ability to bring credibility to an organisation, his integrity and the ability to draw players to him.
“It would be a no-brainer, especially if he wanted to buy into reviving the Bears.
Wayne Bennett will be the first coach of the Dolphins. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“The Bears won’t be at North Sydney exclusively. It is going to be linked with somewhere else, a frontier area.”
Before the Dolphins played at Optus Stadium in round 23 Bennett fronted the press and endorsed the Perth-based NRL bid. It is a bid that Bennett has believed in for a long time.
John Sackson is general manager of NRL WA and is working closely with the Perth bid consortium and the Western Australian Government on the plan to have a new franchise based in the state.
“You would love to have someone of the calibre of Wayne Bennett involved in a Perth franchise,” Sackson said.
“There is his expertise, the respect he has in the market and his ability to attract players, sponsors and fans. All those assets would be an incredible asset to any new franchise entering the competition.”
Newtown also intend to put in a bid to be in an expanded competition, possibly as part of a joint-bid with Perth as an east coast partner.
“You’d never say never,” Jets CEO Stuart McCarthy said of Bennett as a prospective head coach.
“Whoever comes in will need a quality coach and Wayne has certainly done a great job at the Dolphins. You’d be mad not to consider him if he was available, absolutely.”
Dolphins CEO Terry Reader is aware of the interest and has plans to keep Bennett on board.
“Our intention is to have Wayne involved here in a role after he has finished as a head coach, but if he wants to coach again elsewhere that is his decision to make,” Reader said.
“With all that he has achieved in the game why wouldn’t a new NRL franchise want him as head coach?”
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
Pity thoughts don't come easy for the NRL let alone action!
Birdy
Roar Rookie
With a bit of thought the NRL could make a lot of fans happy. Bears, tigers, jets Perth ,NZ2, PNG etc. What a waste of a stadium at Gosford. I'd love to merge Tigers with East Brisbane Tigers. Give all of SW Sydney to Canterbury add black to their jersey and call them the Western Blue Dogs. ( Australian cattle dog, much better than a migrant refugee dog. :stoked:
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
Birdy Sorry about your pooch! I am so sorry to hear you feel so strongly on the Wests /Balmain merger. I as a Bears supporter was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. I have been frustrated by the lack of seriousness in NRL circles over bringing the Bears back in. 24 seasons is a long time to wait. I would gladly take the opportunity to support a West Coast Bears outfit but would not want any other club supporters to be in that position ( except Manly I would take extreme delight in their demise) .
George of Lydda
Roar Rookie
There's talk of getting another rugby league team for Perth since Western Reds were shut down back in the 90's. Obviously, Ausie Rules is the dominant sport here in WA but they're not as fanatical as they're in Victoria.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
3 years ago we put our family dog down. One of the hardest things I ever did. Now looking back, ignoring the advice of a few vets we realize we should of done it much earlier. Optimist ir realist? The merge is a total failure.
Bearswanatah
Roar Rookie
Wayne Bear-nett…. Has a ring to it. Long live the mighty mighty Bears!
Nico
Roar Rookie
There was a time there in around 2018 when Bennett (unfairly) seemed to be on the nose with a lot of punters and was within the sights of a lot of beat-up journalism. Glad he's had the success he's had with Souths, Dolphins and QLD in recent years to silence those doubters and he can see out the final years of his illustrious career on his terms
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
Birdy I think you are the optimist of the year. Once that licence got handed in or revoked it would be almost certainly be the end. Do you think that you could get a Tigers outfit in WA with a black and yellow colour scheme like the Richmond Tigers so soon if that were to happen.. I reckon a wooden spoon is better than being on the outside looking in.
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
RR I think the relocation element had much to do with the success of the Swans. The "rusted on" support of the old South Melbourne base probably helped until they were able to draw in the greater support from the Sydney locals once you had that it was more likely to be self sustaining. The ARL/NRL never had the courage to try it or there was or is too much political interference to let it occur!
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
— COMMENT DELETED —
Birdy
Roar Rookie
Always been a fan of WB
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
KB, actually I expressed that a little inaccurately. Sydney Swans worked as a relocation from South Melbourne, in the sense that the Swans have been a successful club. . But I’m not sure the “relocation” element of that had much to do with the success. The success seems to flow mostly from what’s done after the relocation. . If a club relocated a short distance away so that it retained a lot of players and fans, then it would be made a lot easier. But if it’s a short distance, why would they succeed there if they did t succeed in the original location just down the road?
Birdy
Roar Rookie
Well I've been balmain tigers since I was born. Almost dumped them when they merged but hung on for the colours I suppose. Except for 2005 they have been an embarrassment . I blame this on management. Even this year management showed their worthlessness. I'm not talking about relocation, I'm talking about cancelling their licence and pass it on to the next best bidder who not only get the licence but have the option of keeping the colours and the logo. Brisbane Tigers is a natural as East Brisbane are the tigers, Perth I would think would take it on with the colours complementing WA state colours. As a life supporter of Balmain I'd be more than happy with either outcome. Has to be better than the pain we're going through now.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Gotta love him
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
(C) is more Sydney teams isn’t needed?
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
@Red Rob As to part b of your opinion : Why? When has relocation been given a chance to work? The best chance was to allow North's to move to Central Coast but we all know how that ended!
KiwiBear
Roar Rookie
@ Birdy I agree with you that any club would not want Wayne as a coach or an inaugural coach. I agree with you that there are many deserving bids looking to join the NRL. What I don't agree with you is that having seemingly punished Tigers and I assume you are talking about Wests Tigers why would you want to just shuffle the deck chairs and put that outfit into Perth. Surely the people of Western Australia /Perth deserve a decent well thought out addition to the competition. Then aren't you just poisoning the ground for a Brisbane Tigers outfit?
Stewy76
Roar Rookie
Bennett is still the best all round coach in the competition. Forget about what all the punters say, its the fact that nearly every player in the NRL wants to play under him - that's telling.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Yes absolutely you go for the guy with the proven record who doesn’t mince words.and still there is no evidence he’s past it. Indeed he’s still ahead of pretty much every coach. I get the relocation idea but (a) as much as possible don’t mess with the authenticity the comp still has with the older clubs and (b) not convinced relocation / amalgamation works in practice.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
I can't see why any club would knock back a chance of Wayne Bennet being their coach. As far as the next expansion side is concerned we have too many well deserving areas putting their hands up. We should increase the available spots by the NRL revoking existing club licences for continual incompetence. Tigers comes to mind. Pert tigers or Brisbane Tigers sounds even better!