Newly appointed Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett says he has no time for player managers dictating how things should run behind the scenes.
Bennett was officially unveiled by the NRL’s incoming 17th franchise last week, joining the Dolphins as the club’s head coach on a four-year deal.
The 71-year-old and seven-time premiership winner is no stranger to taking on new challenges.
Having endured two successful stints at the Broncos, the first from 1988–2008 and the second from 2015–2018, Bennett spoke on the importance of long term plans for clubs and why it was crucial to becoming successful for decades.
“We did it so well there [at the Broncos]. To do that, it was deliberate and we took a bit of pain and took a lot of criticism,” Bennett told Wide World of Sports radio.
“We had a long-term plan that would make the club extremely strong for a long period of time, which we managed to do.”
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Speaking to host and Nine NRL commentator Peter Psaltis, Bennett was asked about the tough decisions he made during both of those eras at the Broncos and whether player managers had impacted his duties as a coach.
Bennett, whose eyes are now set on writing a new NRL chapter with the Dolphins, offered a defiant response.
“I don’t deal with the player managers,” he told Psaltis.
“When we greet the player and the deal is signed, the player is the club’s responsibility.
“If I have some player manager ringing me up telling me how to coach the player … that’s not going to happen.
“I don’t expect the player manager to tell the player how to behave himself, he’s a contracted player with us now.
“He’s our responsibility, I take that very seriously.
“I’m not being disrespectful to the player managers here, but that’s not their job. That’s how it works.
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“The challenge is for the player to play to his potential and for us to give him the opportunity to do that.
“We have an obligation to the player to make sure we can create a place where he can come and be that player, and not be someone who can’t exercise his skill and commitment because of the club, who could be in a bit of a mess and things aren’t working the way they should within the club.”
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