Wayne Bennett (rugby league)

Wayne James Bennett AM (born 1 January 1950), also known by the nickname "Benny",^[2] is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL),^[3] and has previously coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Brisbane Broncos, the Newcastle Knights, the St George Illawarra Dragons, the Canberra Raiders, the Queensland Maroons State of Origin team, the NRL All Stars and the Australian Kangaroos national team as well as the England and Great Britain national teams.

Wayne Bennett
AM

Bennett in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Wayne James Bennett
Born	(1950-01-01) 1 January 1950 (age 73) Allora, Queensland, Australia
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Playing information
Position	Wing, Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1972–73 Huddersfield 1974–75 Past Brothers 1977 Southern Suburbs 13 2 0 0 6 Total 13 2 0 0 6 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1971–73 Queensland 7 2 1 0 8 1971–72 Australia 0 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1977–79 Southern Suburbs 66 31 0 34 47 1980–82 Past Brothers 57 23 2 31 40 1984–85 Southern Suburbs 47 32 1 12 68 1987 Canberra Raiders 28 17 0 11 61 1988–08 Brisbane Broncos 526 335 12 179 64 2009–11 St. George Illawarra 79 51 1 27 65 2012–14 Newcastle Knights 75 34 1 40 45 2015–18 Brisbane Broncos 105 67 0 38 64 2019–21 South Sydney 77 53 0 24 69 2023– Dolphins 24 9 0 15 38 Total 1084 652 17 411 60 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1986–88 Queensland 9 5 0 4 56 1997 Queensland (SL) 3 1 0 2 33 1998 Australia 2 2 0 0 100 1998 Queensland 3 2 0 1 67 2001–03 Queensland 9 4 1 4 44 2004–05 Australia 14 10 1 3 71 2007 New Zealand 6 2 0 4 33 2010–16 NRL All Stars 5 2 0 3 40 2016–20 England 15 10 0 5 67 2019–20 Great Britain 4 0 0 4 0
Source: ^[1] As of 2 September 2023

Widely regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever coaches, Bennett holds the Australian rugby league coaching record for the most grand final wins, winning seven premierships from ten grand final appearances in the NRL and its predecessors the Super League and New South Wales Rugby League,^[4] plus one premiership in the Brisbane Rugby League with Southern Suburbs in 1985. Bennett also holds the records for most seasons with a single club; twenty-four with the Brisbane Broncos, most games won as coach, and most games coached at over a thousand first-grade games, being recognised by the NRL in Round 10 of the 2023 season as having coached 900 games in the competition and its predecessors.^[5]

Additionally, he was a coaching adviser to the Tonga national rugby league team in 2022^[6] and the assistant head coach of New Zealand in 2008.

As a player, Bennett was an Australian international and Queensland interstate representative fullback or wing in the 1970s. He also played at club level with the Huddersfield Giants in England. Before becoming a full-time football coach in 1976, Bennett worked as a Queensland Police officer.

Early life

Bennett was born in the small township of Allora, Queensland, Australia.^[7] He grew up in a working-class family in nearby Warwick with an alcoholic father who deserted the family when Wayne was eleven years old, resulting in him entering the workforce at an early age. He has two sisters, Michelle and Gretta and two brothers, Robert^[8] and Dwight. Bennett is an avowed non-smoker, non-drinker and non-gambler. Before becoming involved with the Queensland Rugby League on a full-time basis, Bennett commenced work as a police officer at age fifteen while playing junior rugby league in Warwick. His family had ties to the police and rugby league in South East Queensland through his uncle, 1948 Kangaroo forward Eddie Brosnan.^[9]

Playing career (1970-1974)

Bennett's playing career began with appearances for Warwick and Toowoomba in the South-West District Rugby League, and the All Whites in the Ipswich Rugby League. His first-grade appearances were for Past Brothers and Southern Suburbs in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (BRL). He was a talented wing and goal-kicker, and represented Queensland nine times between 1971 and 1973, including seven games against New South Wales.^[10] Coached by Bob Bax, Bennett credits him as being a major influence in his own later coaching career.^[11] Bennett also played two tour matches for Australia on the 1971 tour of New Zealand. In 1972, Bennett played for Toowoomba in the last Bulimba Cup Final against Brisbane.^[12] After that, he played for Huddersfield in England alongside fellow Queenslander and future brother-in-law Greg Veivers.^[13] Bennett played for Brisbane's Brothers club and under coach Paul Broughton reached the 1974 Grand Final which they lost to Fortitude Valley. Bennett was the top tryscorer in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League season.^[14]

Coaching career (1976-present)

Early years (1976-1985)

From 1975-77, Bennett coached the U18s Queensland Police Academy in the Brisbane local competition and the Police Academy Cadet Team versus the NSW Police Academy.^{[citation needed]}

In 1976, he began full-time coaching in Ipswich, coaching three games for the midweek Amco and Carlton Cups,^[15] before moving to Brisbane Rugby League Premiership sides, Souths (who he captain-coached in 1977) and Brothers.

After the births of his three children, Bennett had a break from coaching. He returned in 1983 as coach of Souths Acacia Ridge under 16s as well as the Queensland Police Academy under 18s team which he took to a premiership. He also worked as the Police Academy's fitness instructor.^[16] Bennett then took over the Souths job and took them to the 1984 grand final, which they lost to the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls. Revenge was to come a year later when the Bennett-coached Magpies defeated the Seagulls 10–8 in the BRL grand final to take the premiership. This was against a Seagulls line-up featuring Australian captain Wally Lewis and centre Gene Miles, both of whom would later captain the Brisbane Broncos under Bennett.

Queensland Maroons (1986-1988)

In 1986, Bennett took over from Des Morris as coach of the Queensland State of Origin team.^[17] The Maroons were beaten 3–0 in a series whitewash that year; however, Bennett was retained as Queensland's coach for two more years.

Canberra Raiders (1987)

In 1987, Bennett moved interstate to join the NSWRL's Winfield Cup Premiership when he was appointed co-coach of the Canberra Raiders alongside then Australian team coach Don Furner. With the Queensland side, Bennett won the 1987 State of Origin series. By the end of the 1987 NSWRL season, he and Furner had guided the Raiders to their first Grand Final which was lost to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18–8.

Brisbane Broncos (1988-2008)

Bennett was appointed to be the first coach of the Brisbane Broncos when the club was formed in 1988. That season with the Maroons, he defeated New South Wales in a 3 nil whitewash in the State of Origin, but Bennett discontinued his representative coaching to focus on the Broncos.

Bennett's reputation for being able to make tough and even unpopular decisions was characterised by his sacking of Wally Lewis as club captain in 1990. At the end of the season, Lewis was not made an offer large enough to retain him, with Bennett citing salary cap restrictions and the need to keep Sydney clubs away from more junior talent coming through.^[18] The Broncos won their first premierships in 1992 under Bennett. In the weeks following the grand final, Bennett travelled with the Broncos to England, where they played the 1992 World Club Challenge against British champions Wigan, helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain. The following season, the Broncos again won the grand final, gaining a second consecutive premiership. During the 1994 QLDRL season, Bennett coached defending premiers Brisbane when they unsuccessfully hosted British champions Wigan for the 1994 World Club Challenge.

Bennett was appointed as Queensland coach again for the 1995 State of Origin series but pulled out of the position after players aligned with the breakaway Super League organisation (including the majority of his club team, the Brisbane Broncos) were refused selection. In the 1997 Super League season, the Broncos dominated under Bennett, winning the 1997 World Club Championship as well as the Telstra Cup grand final in Brisbane. Bennett resumed representative coaching duties in 1998 with Queensland and was also given the honour of coaching Australia when he was appointed to replace Bob Fulton as Kangaroos coach. Australia was undefeated in two test matches against New Zealand. Bennett won his fourth premiership with the Broncos when they took the 1998 NRL grand final, and he was also named Coach of the Year at the Queensland Sport Awards.^[19] Bennett ceased coaching the Australian national team in March 1999, and was replaced by Chris Anderson.^[20]

In 2000, Bennett won his fifth premiership with the Broncos. Following the premiership win, the Australian Rugby Union tried to poach Bennett, but he declined.^[21] Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos travelled to England to play against 2000's Super League V Champions, St Helens R.F.C. for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Bennett overseeing Brisbane's loss. Bennett would again coach Queensland in 2001, gaining widespread attention after his decision to recall Allan Langer to the Maroons from the Super League for the deciding third game of the 2001 State of Origin series. Bennett remained Queensland's coach for the 2002 and 2003 series before stepping down again. He continued his involvement with coaching for Queensland through the Queensland Academy of Sport and in an off-field role with the Queensland Rugby League. On Australia Day 2004, Bennett was honoured as a member of the Order of Australia "for service to rugby league football, particularly as a coach, and to the community."^[22]

 

Bennett with the Telstra Premiership trophy at post 2006 NRL Grand Final celebrations in Brisbane.

Bennett is a passionate advocate of international Rugby League and was instrumental in the revival of the Tri-Nations series in 2004. In that year, he was again appointed Australian coach and took Australia to reclaim the Trans-Tasman Trophy (lost to New Zealand in 2003) and win the second Rugby League Tri-Nations Series. At the end of the 2005 season, after five successive years without a grand final appearance, Bennett decided to have a clean-out of the coaching staff, removing such long-time allies as Gary Belcher, Glenn Lazarus and Kevin Walters.^[23] That year, he received the Rugby League International Federation's coach of the year award.^[24] However, on 9 December 2005, it was announced that Bennett had resigned as Australia's coach after the Kangaroos lost an international series for the first time in 27 years,^[25] and equalled their biggest loss in 98 years, going down 24–0 to New Zealand in the final of the 2005 Tri-nations series. In 2006 a secret deal being brokered between Bennett and the Sydney Roosters club for him to become their coach was made public. This is said to have caused the deterioration in his relationship with the Broncos management which eventually led to his resignation.^[26] During the 2006 finals series, Bennett became the second person (after Tim Sheens) to coach 500 premiership games. He also signed on to continue coaching the Broncos for a further two years.^[27] The sixth premiership final won by Brisbane against Melbourne made Wayne Bennett the most successful Grand Final coach in history.^[28] He again was named Queensland's Sport Coach of the Year for 2007 and was made a life member of the Broncos club. His refusal to make an acceptance speech at the club's presentation ball showed the strain in his relationship with the Broncos.^[29] Bennett coached the 2007 All Golds.^[30] In doing so, he introduced the New Zealand players to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.^[31]

 

Bennett and Tonie Carroll at Suncorp Stadium in 2008

Bennett was originally contracted to the Broncos until the end of 2009 , but on the night of 4 February 2008 at a Broncos board meeting, he submitted his letter of resignation and sought an early release at the end of the 2008 season. Bennett's coaching future was confirmed on 31 March 2008, when he signed a three-year contract to coach the St. George Illawarra Dragons from season 2009.^[32] After much speculation, Bennett became assistant coach and advisor to New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney in 2008. This was in preparation for the Centenary test against the Kangaroos. Bennett was retained in the same role for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, which the Kiwis won. Former New Zealand coach Graham Lowe has credited Bennett with the victory.^[33]

St George Illawarra Dragons (2009-2011)

The Bennett era at St George Illawarra began with high turnover of staff and players. High performance director Jeremy Hickmans, conditioner Scott Campbell and manager/assistant Paul Massey were recruited to replace the existing staff, while the playing roster had recently lost high-profile stars Mark Gasnier to retirement with Jason Ryles and Josh Morris released. The club's player recruiting however was extensive: Jeremy Smith, Darius Boyd, Neville Costigan, Luke Priddis, Michael Weyman, Mathew Head (returned) and Mickey Paea.^[34] At the Dragons, Bennett was to be re-united with former Broncos Wendell Sailor and Luke Priddis, both of whom had won premierships with him at Brisbane. Neville Costigan, who also played under Bennett at the Broncos joined the Dragons that year in addition to Darius Boyd and Nick Emmett who also moved from Brisbane to St. George Illawarra at the same time as Bennett.

His first game with the Dragons was a golden point loss to the previous season's grand finalists, Melbourne Storm.^[35] In round 4 of the 2009 NRL season, Bennett returned to Suncorp Stadium with the Dragons and for the first time coached against the club he helped build. St. George Illawarra defeated the Broncos convincingly as the Dragons continued to lead the competition in defence. However, after winning the minor premiership in his first season at the club, it was the Brisbane Broncos who knocked the Dragons out of finals contention at the end of the 2009 season.

In 2009, Bennett was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.^[36]

In the 2010 NRL season, Bennett guided the Dragons to their second consecutive minor premiership and on to the 2010 NRL Grand Final, the joint venture club's second. After years of having a "choker" tag^{[citation needed]}, they faced the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium in the decider at the season's end. The rain fell across the ground during the match and Bennett's players had a fiery 2nd Half after a traditional spray at half time as they were being led 8–6 at the break. The Dragons under Bennett were successful in winning their first premiership as a joint venture who went on to beat the Roosters 32–8.

The Dragons went on to defeat 2010's Super League XV champions, Wigan Warriors in the 2011 World Club Challenge, but Bennett was absent, choosing to fly back to Australia days before the match to be with his ill mother-in-law, and leaving assistant coach Steve Price in charge.^{[citation needed]}

On 30 March 2011, Bennett announced he would not continue on as coach of St George Illawarra beyond the 2011 season.^{[citation needed]} His final game at the helm of St. George Illawarra ended the way it started, with a heartbreaking golden point loss against his old club, the Brisbane Broncos, at Suncorp Stadium.^{[citation needed]} This extended Bennett's winless finals record at the venue to eight.

Newcastle Knights (2012-2014)

In 2012, Bennett commenced a four-year contract with the Newcastle Knights.^[37] The team did not reach the finals that year; the first finals series not to feature Bennett in twenty-one years. This changed in the following season when he took the club to within one match of the 2013 NRL Grand Final.

Due to a change in club ownership in 2014, Bennett became a free agent and announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season to return to the Brisbane Broncos ahead of the 2015 season.^[38]

Brisbane Broncos (2015-2018)

Bennett returned to coach the Brisbane Broncos for the 2015 NRL season,^[39][40] The Broncos subsequently finished second in the regular season and made it to the grand final,^[41] but were defeated 17-16 by the North Queensland Cowboys in golden point extra time, which was the Broncos first grand final defeat. Bennett continued with the Broncos until the end of the 2018 season.

On 2 December 2018, Bennett was officially sacked as coach of the Brisbane Broncos following a bitter dispute with club officials. He then signed up to coach the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the 2019 season onwards.^[42] On 4 December 2018, Bennett spoke to the media about his sacking saying "You don’t get the chance to say goodbye to anybody when they sack you and they tell you not to come back to the building", Bennett said. "But that’s alright. That’s all fine. We’ll all get over it. I was happy to be sacked. Just leave it at that. I was happy".^[43]

Great Britain and England (2016-2020)

In 2016, Bennett was appointed coach of England for two seasons. The decision however suffered criticism from some critics, such as former English internationals Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock who believe previous coach Steve McNamara should have stayed at the helm, while Australian rugby league legend Wally Lewis said that an Australian should not be coaching the English team.^[44] Later in 2016, rumours came about that Bennett would be selecting Australian players such as Brett and twin brother Josh Morris as well as Trent Hodkinson in his English team for the 2016 Four Nations. However, he 'denied' that he'd select those players in his squad saying that the media is 'getting excited'.^[45] In October 2017, Bennett was selected for the England squad in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.^[46]

In 2019, Bennett was selected as head coach for the Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.^[47] He took charge of Great Britain for the first time in the defeat by Tonga.^[48] Great Britain ended the tour losing all four matches including the last match which was a humiliating 28-10 loss against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. Following the conclusion of the tour, several Great Britain players and Bennett himself came under intense media scrutiny and fan backlash.^[49][50][51]

He was also selected to coach the England 9s squad for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s.^[52]

South Sydney Rabbitohs (2019-2021)

In 2019, Bennett started his first of three seasons as South Sydney coach with the club winning 10 of their first 11 games which saw them sitting at the top of the table. Following the 2019 State of Origin series, Souths suffered a slump in form before winning their last 3 matches in a row to finish the regular season in 3rd place.^[53][54] Bennett guided South Sydney to the preliminary final against the Canberra Raiders but were defeated 16-10 at Canberra Stadium.^[55]

On 21 February 2020, it was announced that Bennett would be leaving South Sydney as head coach at the end of the 2021 season with assistant Jason Demetriou taking his place.^[56] Nevertheless, Bennett guided South Sydney to a sixth place finish in the 2020 NRL season which saw the club qualify for the finals. Bennett took South Sydney to their third preliminary final in a row where they suffered a 20-16 loss against Penrith.^[57] On 14 January 2021, it was announced that Bennett relinquished his Queensland Maroons coaching job from the previous year. In the 2021 NRL season, Bennett guided South Sydney to a third placed finish. He then took South Sydney to the 2021 NRL Grand Final which was also Bennett's tenth grand final as a head coach. South Sydney would go on to lose the final narrowly to Penrith 14-12.^[58]

Dolphins (2022-present)

Commencing in 2022, Bennett joined the Dolphins as head coach for their inaugural 2023 season in the NRL competition.^[59] The Dolphins won their first three matches in 2023. In round 8, they equalled the greatest comeback in premiership history to defeat the Gold Coast Titans 28-26 at Suncorp Stadium, after trailing the Titans 26-0 after the first twenty-six minutes. The record for a winning comeback in premiership history dating to 1908 was set in 1998, when the North Queensland Cowboys went from being down 26-0 to defeating the Penrith Panthers 36-28 at full-time.^[60]

On 5 May 2023, it was reported that Bennett had coached a total of 1227 games to date, and the Dolphins' round 10 clash against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on Saturday 6 May at Suncorp Stadium would be his 900th premiership match.^[61]

Public persona

Known for his taciturn manner ^[62][63] and appearing outwardly unemotional,^[64] Bennett has stated that he detests the media commitments required as head coach of a high-profile football team.^[65] Although on occasions he will happily give in-depth interviews, he has also exhibited hostility towards the press, avoided questions and started press conferences early.

Personal life

Bennett married Trish Veivers (a sister of Greg Veivers) in 1974, and they subsequently had three children. The couple separated in 2016.^[66]

In 2007, Bennett co-wrote the book Don't Die with the Music in You with Australian journalist Steve Crawley.^[67] The title refers to a quote from the American intellectual Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. regarding failure to meet one's potential. On 7 May 2008, prominent personalities such as NRL CEO David Gallop, rugby league coach Jack Gibson, businessman Lachlan Murdoch, entrepreneur John Singleton and cricketer Steve Waugh were among the attendees at the Australian Museum in Sydney when the book was publicly launched; it went on to sell over 100,000 copies.^[68] His second book with Crawley, The Man in the Mirror, was published in August 2009.^[69] Bennett has also written a weekly column in The Australian, a national newspaper.

In 2016, Bennett commenced a relationship with Dale Tynan, whom he met while coaching in Newcastle.^[70]

Recognition

• 1994: Medal of the Order of Australia "in recognition of service to the sport of Rugby League, particularly as coach of the Brisbane Broncos"^[71]
• 1997: Super League Coach of the Year
• 1998: Queensland Father of the year
• 2000: NRL Coach of the Year
• 2000: Australian Sports Medal for "significant contribution to the development of sport"^[72]
• 2004: Member of the Order of Australia for "service to Rugby League football, particularly as a coach, and to the community"^[73]
• 2012: Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame^[74]
• 2015: Dally M Coach of the Year

Statistics

Club

†	Denotes seasons in which a club coached by Bennett won an Australian first-grade premiership

Season	Team	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %	Notes
1977	Southern Suburbs	21	7	0	14	33.33%	Finished 8th (out of 8).
1978	Southern Suburbs	21	9	0	12	42.86%	Finished 5th (out of 8).
1979	Southern Suburbs	24	15	0	9	62.50%	Finished 3rd (out of 8). Lost grand final to Fortitude Valley.
1980	Past Brothers	22	14	0	8	63.64%	Finished 3rd (out of 8). Lost semi-final to Northern Suburbs.
1981	Past Brothers	21	5	1	15	23.81%	Finished 8th (out of 8).
1982	Past Brothers	14	4	1	9	28.57%	Finished 6th (out of 8).
1984	Southern Suburbs	24	15	1	8	62.50%	Finished 2nd (out of 8). Lost grand final to Wynnum-Manly.
1985†	Southern Suburbs	23	17	0	6	73.91%	Finished 1st (out of 8). Won grand final against Wynnum-Manly.
1987	Canberra	28	17	0	11	60.71%	Finished 3rd (out of 13). Lost grand final to Manly-Warringah.
1988	Brisbane	22	14	0	8	63.64%	Finished 7th (out of 16).
1989	Brisbane	23	14	0	9	60.87%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Lost Playoff to Cronulla-Sutherland.
1990	Brisbane	25	17	1	7	68.00%	Finished 2nd (out of 16). Lost preliminary final to Canberra.
1991	Brisbane	22	13	0	9	59.09%	Finished 7th (out of 16).
1992†	Brisbane	24	20	0	4	83.33%	Finished 1st (out of 16). Won grand final against St. George.
1993†	Brisbane	26	20	0	6	76.92%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Won grand final against St. George.
1994	Brisbane	24	14	1	9	58.33%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Lost semi-final to North Sydney.
1995	Brisbane	24	17	0	7	70.83%	Finished 3rd (out of 20). Lost semi-final to Sydney.
1996	Brisbane	23	17	0	6	73.91%	Finished 2nd (out of 20). Lost semi-final to Cronulla-Sutherland.
1997†	Brisbane	20	16	1	3	80.00%	Finished 1st (out of 10). Won grand final against Cronulla-Sutherland.
1998†	Brisbane	28	21	1	6	75.00%	Finished 1st (out of 20). Won grand final against Canterbury-Bankstown.
1999	Brisbane	25	13	2	10	52.00%	Finished 8th (out of 17). Lost Qualifying final to Cronulla-Sutherland.
2000†	Brisbane	29	21	2	6	72.41%	Finished 1st (out of 14). Won grand final against Sydney.
2001	Brisbane	29	15	1	13	51.72%	Finished 5th (out of 14). Lost preliminary final to Parramatta.
2002	Brisbane	24^[a]	16	1	7	66.67%	Finished 3rd (out of 15). Lost preliminary final to Sydney.
2003	Brisbane	25	12	0	13	48.00%	Finished 8th (out of 15). Lost elimination final to Penrith.
2004	Brisbane	26	16	1	9	61.54%	Finished 3rd (out of 15). Lost semi-final to North Queensland.
2005	Brisbane	26	15	0	11	57.69%	Finished 3rd (out of 15). Lost semi-final to Wests.
2006†	Brisbane	28	16	0	12	57.14%	Finished 3rd (out of 15). Won grand final against Melbourne.
2007	Brisbane	25	11	0	14	44.00%	Finished 8th (out of 16). Lost elimination final to Melbourne.
2008	Brisbane	26	15	1	10	57.69%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Lost semi-final to Melbourne.
2009	St. George Illawarra	26	17	0	9	65.38%	Finished 1st (out of 16). Lost semi-final to Brisbane.
2010†	St. George Illawarra	27	20	0	7	74.07%	Finished 1st (out of 16). Won grand final against Sydney.
2011	St. George Illawarra	26	14	1	11	53.85%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Lost semi-final to Brisbane.
2012	Newcastle	24	10	0	14	41.67%	Finished 12th (out of 16).
2013	Newcastle	27	14	1	12	51.85%	Finished 7th (out of 16). Lost preliminary final to Sydney.
2014	Newcastle	24	10	0	14	41.67%	Finished 12th (out of 16).
2015	Brisbane	27	19	0	8	70.37%	Finished 2nd (out of 16). Lost grand final to North Queensland.
2016	Brisbane	26	16	0	10	61.54%	Finished 5th (out of 16). Lost semi-final to North Queensland.
2017	Brisbane	27	17	0	10	62.96%	Finished 3rd (out of 16). Lost preliminary final to Melbourne.
2018	Brisbane	25	15	0	10	60.00%	Finished 6th (out of 16). Lost elimination final to St. George Illawarra.
2019	South Sydney	27	17	0	10	62.96%	Finished 3rd (out of 16). Lost preliminary final to Canberra.
2020	South Sydney	23^[b]	14	0	9	60.87%	Finished 6th (out of 16). Lost preliminary final to Penrith.
2021	South Sydney	27	22	0	5	81.48%	Finished 3rd (out of 16). Lost grand final to Penrith.
2023	Dolphins	24	9	0	15	37.50%	Finished 13th (out of 17).
Career totals		1084	652	17	411	60.15%

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Notes

1. Does not include 2 games Bennett missed due to State of Origin duties, which were instead coached by Craig Bellamy.
2. Includes 2 games considered to have been "coached remotely," despite not being physically present due to the NRL's COVID-19 protocols.

Further reading

• Bennett, Wayne (1996). League's a lot like life. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-7322-5725-5.
• Bennett, Wayne; Crawley, Steve (2003). Don't die with the music in you. ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 978-0-7333-2219-8.
• Bennett, Wayne; Crawley, Steve (2008). Wayne Bennett: The Man in the Mirror. ABC Books. ISBN 978-0-7333-2428-4.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wayne Bennett (rugby league).

• Dolphins profile
• at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 February 2018)
• Man for All Seasons – Australian Story Transcript
• at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 January 2014)
• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
• Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos official website.''
• Wayne Bennett at celebrityspeakers.com.au
• Wayne Bennett at icmi.com.au
• at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 July 2008)
• Wayne Bennett at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Sporting positions
Preceded by None	Coach   Dolphins 2023–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Anthony Seibold 2018	Coach   South Sydney Rabbitohs 2019–2021	Succeeded by Jason Demetriou 2022-present
Preceded by Steve McNamara 2010-2015	Coach   England 2016-2020	Succeeded by Shaun Wane 2020-present
Preceded by Kevin Walters 2016-2019	Coach   Queensland 2020	Succeeded by Paul Green 2021
Preceded by Tony Smith 2007	Coach   Great Britain 2019	Succeeded by Shaun Wane 2020 - present
Preceded by Anthony Griffin 2011-2014	Coach   Brisbane Broncos 2015–2018	Succeeded by Anthony Seibold 2019-2020
Preceded by Rick Stone 2009-2011	Coach   Newcastle Knights 2012–2014	Succeeded by Rick Stone 2015
Preceded by Nathan Brown 2003-2008	Coach   St George Illawarra Dragons 2009–2011	Succeeded by Steve Price 2012-2014
Preceded by Chris Anderson 1999-2003	Coach   Australia 2004–2005	Succeeded by Ricky Stuart 2006-2008
Preceded by None	Coach   Brisbane Broncos 1988–2008	Succeeded by Ivan Henjak 2009-2010
Preceded by Mark Murray 1999-2000	Coach   Queensland 2001–2003	Succeeded by Michael Hagan 2004-2005
Preceded by Paul Vautin 1995-1997	Coach   Queensland 1998	Succeeded by Mark Murray 1999-2000
Preceded by Bob Fulton 1989-1998	Coach   Australia 1998	Succeeded by Chris Anderson 1999-2003
Preceded by None	Coach   Queensland Tri-Series 1997	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Des Morris 1985	Coach   Queensland 1986–1988	Succeeded by Arthur Beetson 1989-1990
Preceded by Don Furner 1982-1987	Coach   Canberra Raiders 1987	Succeeded by Tim Sheens 1988-1996