Wayne Bennett has slammed his former club Brisbane for not hiring Jason Demetriou instead of Anthony Seibold, against his recommendations.
Ahead of South Sydney’s Friday night clash against the Broncos, which marks the beginning of Demetriou’s head coaching career, Bennett has taken a swipe at his former club for not backing the man who served a five-year apprenticeship under the coaching legend.
Seibold joined Brisbane ahead of the 2019 season but lasted just 18 months into a five-year deal and the club collected its first ever wooden spoon in 2020.
Bennett left the Broncos as Seibold arrived and took his then-assistant Demetriou with him to Souths, leading the club to three straight preliminary finals and last year’s grand final.
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Bennett emphasised Demetriou’s head coaching journey would have started years ago had the Broncos listened to him.
“Sometimes the club’s appointments have been the problem,” Bennett told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There were a couple of times where the club would ask you who the next best coach is, you’d tell them, but they didn’t want to hear it and made their own choices.
“There’s no better example of that than Brisbane. It’s easy to blame the coach sometimes, but there are some administrators out there who make poor decisions.
“At the Broncos I recommended Jason be head coach. He did the interview, did all the things he was asked to do, but the ‘three wise men’ didn’t rate him.
“My suggestion was I’ll stay another year and coach with ‘JD’ and he can take over. But they didn’t want that.”
Seibold joins a long list of coaches who have failed trying to successfully replace Bennett but the 72-year-old believes it will be a different story with Demetriou.
“He came with me to South Sydney, did a great job working with me, now it’s his moment and opportunity, and I think he’s ready for it. Everyone could see what he was going to be [at Souths].
“He’s been presented with a wonderful opportunity at a tremendous club that’s he been very much a part of the past three years, helping shape it and build it. He couldn’t be at a better place.”
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