Why Wayne Bennett loves the game, but doesn’t chase the game

1 week ago 7

Maybe Wayne Bennett fears status and joining that “mass of men” whom American philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote “lead lives of quiescent desperation”.

After all, Bennett’s 2007 book, written with Steve Crawley is titled, Don’t Die With The Music In You, a punctuation taken from American polymath Oliver Wendell Holmes, a 19th-century modern of Thoreau.

It’s the fearfulness of a beingness of emptiness that drives galore semipermanent coaches, a nagging angst astatine the nonaccomplishment of a originative future. Craig Bellamy enactment it simply erstwhile explaining wherefore helium would manager into a 22nd successive play astatine the Storm, saying, “I’m not definite what other I would bash erstwhile I retire.”

On Friday, helium announced helium volition marque that astatine slightest 23 seasons.

Bennett coached Bellamy astatine the Raiders successful 1987, backmost erstwhile his contemporaries were part-time, holding time jobs arsenic schoolhouse teachers, policemen, oregon poker instrumentality salesmen. Players were besides part-time. Their full-time occupation paid much than their shot declaration and they were truthful little disposed to question crossed the metropolis to articulation different club. Clubs were besides restricted to conscionable 13 players from extracurricular their ain country – crossed 3 grades. Training sessions were connected weeknights. A caput manager had nary assistants and astir clubs had 1 imperishable worker – a “secretary” – which was a misnomer considering helium couldn’t type.

Video replay was successful its infancy. Only 2 games were televised per week and players often had to hold until the Tuesday nighttime grooming league to cognize whether they were playing Saturday oregon Sunday. Competition betwixt the 2 Sydney day newspapers – The Sun and Daily Mirror – for scoops was intense, though TV disapproval was restricted to a fewer barbs from Rex Mossop connected Channel 7. Players queued up for a spot connected the massage array and grooming was usually held connected the club’s location ground, meaning bedewed upwind ruled retired shot enactment and the nine doc appeared chiefly connected crippled day.

A Bennett instrumentality to South Sydney and a reunion with Latrell Mitchell appears a fait accompli.

Today, Bennett is considering a declaration with South Sydney, followed by taking complaint of an enlargement club, meaning some deals would instrumentality him past his 80th birthday.

All his rivals are present full-time, arsenic are players who person dedicated days off. A NRL club’s shot section includes adjunct coaches, training, rehabilitation and payment professionals, backed by an bureau unit wherever full nine numbers are evenly divided betwixt players and non players. Full fixtures are known earlier play kick-off. Coaches and players person entree to good drained fields, modern gymnasiums, theatrettes, blistery meals and cutting-edge technology, including video of grooming sessions captured by drones.

No wonderment “Old Man Winner” keeps rolling along. Sure, helium tin beryllium connected 1 of his tractors astatine 1 of his 5 Warwick properties and cheque connected the fences, but wherever is the originative aboriginal successful that?

Plus, his radical of adjunct coaches bash each the tedious and physically demanding tasks which were erstwhile solely the domain of the archetypal people manager successful the epoch erstwhile a nine fielded 3 people teams. Assistants bash the league readying and sift done the hours of video to chopped highlights for the caput coach.

Wayne Bennett’s man-management skills are ever apical of the database erstwhile discussing his virtues.

Visit an NRL grooming league connected the wrestling mat, observe an adjunct manager successful the midst of each the elbows and knees of a collision and you recognize wherefore a caput manager aged successful his 60s oregon 70s stands comfortably against the wall. In an epoch wherever truthful galore players are self-entitled, it is the adjunct who plays the bully cop/bad bull relation arsenic required by the caput coach.

And it’s not arsenic if the caput manager is compelled to travel up with an innovative strategy to astonishment adjacent week’s opponent. All NRL teams person near and close defences; they play the aforesaid way, waiting for the absorption to marque an mistake oregon concede a punishment to acceptable up for a try.

Sure, the multi-camera TV sum means much acold players are caught by office and suspended than a half-century agone but the upside is adjunct coaches tin usage this imaginativeness to heighten subordinate skills.

Other “lifer” caput coaches, specified arsenic the Roosters’ Trent Robinson, Canberra’s Ricky Stuart, Gold Coast’s Des Hasler and Bellamy, are much hands-on than Bennett. But fixed the grade of delegation by a caput manager to his assistants, it’s nary astonishment the astir communal praise of Bennett we perceive from his erstwhile players is his “man management” skills.

Wayne Bennett could good manager into his 80s … astatine a seventh club.

One-on-one, Bennett tin cuddle a subordinate down connected assurance amended than anyone. Addressing the group, helium tin beryllium scathing, but it suits him to beryllium sparing successful his language.

It besides explains wherefore – different than his archetypal word astatine Brisbane – helium doesn’t enactment agelong astatine a club.

He is comparable to the Coach of the Century, Jack Gibson, successful this respect. Gibson coached astatine six clubs implicit 20 years, including the Roosters twice. Bennett has coached astatine six clubs implicit astir 40 years, including the Broncos twice. Like Gibson, if Bennett can’t person full control, helium leaves.

Another crushed wherefore Bennett endures is his disinterest successful the problems which face today’s mentors. There were nary agents backmost successful the 1980s, isolated from solicitors who negotiated a player’s declaration with the secretary. A subordinate present has a person narration with his manager than his caput coach. It is the manager who protests connected his behalf erstwhile the subordinate is relegated to State Cup.

Head coaches kick agents are insulated from disapproval due to the fact that journalists beryllium connected them for information. While the wage headdress contributes to a bigger churn of players than successful the past, agents exploit it for their commissions.

But Bennett, by “club hopping” arsenic it was called successful the aged days, is not arsenic affected by agents and subordinate question arsenic the coaches similar Bellamy and Penrith’s Ivan Cleary who develop endowment lone to spot it leave.

More coaches are sacked mid-season present than erstwhile Bennett began successful the then-NSWRL. However, due to the fact that of his exalted presumption arsenic a seven-time premiership-winning coach, helium is mostly spared media criticism. In immoderate case, the media pile-on is much gentle than 40 years ago, contempt the width and extent of sum including a dedicated NRL wage TV channel.

As for societal media, Bennett astir apt thinks it’s a word for journalists who constitute for the gossip pages. Nor does helium look affected by the losses arsenic overmuch arsenic his rivals who sometimes look shallow, sunken, defeated aft games. Like today’s players, helium “moves on.”

So, the Skinny Coach is comfy with the regular of the job. He’s Robert Duvall arsenic Lt Colonel Bill Kilgore successful Apocalypse Now, saying, “I emotion the odor of napalm successful the morning.”

He astir apt would similar Parramatta to travel successful with an connection to unit his anticipated determination to South Sydney into an auction, allowing him to bargain a sixth workplace successful Queensland’s Southern Downs.

But erstwhile helium takes complaint of a Perth oregon a PNG squad approaching his 80th birthday, his rivals volition inactive beryllium confronting the bequest helium institutionalised: the deep, debilitating request of success.

Love the game, don’t pursuit the game, helium mightiness say, arsenic helium delays the time erstwhile the euphony dies and determination is nary originative future.

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