The Wayne Bennet Premiership Franchise

[Guest]

or Fttler pulling his finger out we win 3 GFs

I don't agree with that one at all. Fittler single-handedly destroyed the dogs that day only to have a bunch of muppets let him down very badly. From memory the Minichiello obstruction, and the Hegarty and Cross butterfinger incidents all happened in the first half. It could have very easily been 30-0 at half time.

[Guest]

or Fttler pulling his finger out we win 3 GFs

This!

I always thought in 2002 it was:



for Fittler.

We had him from 1995 to 2004. We got one premiership and three finals series. And even then the Grand Final was the Warriors until he got headbutted.

No talk of God now, I call him just a man.

[stephenj]

I accept all those very valid comments, what gets up my arse is the referees allowing his teams to contantly and consistantly break the rules, offside defence, forward passes from dummy half, flops, chicken wing tackles everything in the book is ok for the dragons or drongos or nights soon! its as if news have gifted him this latitude for services rendered, ie not coaching easts! shake his hand youd count the fingers?

[Kingbilly]

I don't agree with that one at all. Fittler single-handedly destroyed the dogs that day only to have a bunch of muppets let him down very badly. From memory the Minichiello obstruction, and the Hegarty and Cross butterfinger incidents all happened in the first half. It could have very easily been 30-0 at half time.

I didn't think Fittler dominated anything in any of the 3 GFs.
Even against the Warriors its was his team mates that finally woke up when he was headbutted.
The other 2 were there for the taking, just needed someone to stand up and lead, and he didn't (mid you he did to get us to both of them)
It was par for the course against Penrith though, he always went missing against them

[Guest]

Wayne's early premierships came with an enlarged cap (from memory i think only brisbane's top side counted in the cap whereas all the other teams had to include their reserve grade too). then '97/'98/'00 was with the megabucks team (did Brisbane open their pay books during this time) which anybody could have coached to a a victory. after that he had the thoroughbreds topping up the salaries yet could only manage 2006 and that was with the most bias reffing in a GF. 2010 he had a good roster, and the constant assistance of the refs.

Smithy's teams should never have got to the grand final. on paper they should have missed the finals yet he got them to the biggest stage. look at Parra 2001. An average side and he made them the greatest attacking force since Gibbo was coaching

[Guest]

Smithy's teams should never have got to the grand final. on paper they should have missed the finals yet he got them to the biggest stage. look at Parra 2001. An average side and he made them the greatest attacking force since Gibbo was coaching

Eels 2001 still in my books as the greatest coaching achievement of recent history.

[Guest]

But they didnt win anything so who cares

[Bansai Pipeline]

Funniest thread I have ever read. If we got him and won he would be the greatest and our title "well deserved". He has earned his reputation by winning. We chose a coach who has earned a reputation for .......... You fill in the blank.

The only thing I regret about not getting Bennet is not reading the headlines when the inevitable happened and Politis sacked him.

[Guest]

Yeah that's the key...
For years now the Dragon's roster has been well over the cap (they simply have no players who haven't played rep footy.) That's not to say they cheat, I see it as more of an investment. If you play for the Dragons your value WILL go up and when you move on you WILL be paid more money.

I just get frustrated that the cap can stop cheating, but it can't stop players accepting contracts worth far less than their market value. I wish there was some kind of market value mechanism, or a more open market for stars rather than behind the scenes wheeling/dealing. Oh well, doubt such things will change.

One thing Wayne has done is WRECKED the Dragons reserve grade/NYC teams. Both are failing hopelessly (as are ours this year, but IMO we have a far more balanced team across the grades, and many Jets players end up being NRL quality.)

That is business and I have no problem with players taking a pay cut to stay where they want to play.....

[Guest]

I live in the past

I wish we had won 5 from 5 and I wish Bennett had come and I wish Chris Anderson and Freddie were never the coach

[Headless Chook]

I live in the past

I wish we had won 5 from 5 and I wish Bennett had come and I wish Chris Anderson and Freddie were never the coach

If Bennett had come Freddie would be our coach by now. Wasn't the plan for Bennett to coach for 3 years and show Freddie the ropes so he could then take over.......unfortunetly, somewhere along the line the plan went awry and we ended up with Freddie coaching us before he had served a proper apprenticeship under a decent mentor.

[Guest]

But they didnt win anything so who cares

And there lies the problem. You will always rate ordinary coaches who inherited success via star-studded teams (Sticky, John Lang, Michael Hagan, etc) more highly than a coach who took the youngest team in the comp to within a bees dick of a premiership.

[trewhella]

There is a lot of one sided bullshit in this thread and in this club.

Along with the broncs we had been rorting the cap for years.

Bennett is the master of self appraisal.
Not public or player adulation.

[Pass the Ball]

Simple fact is that he gets the best out of his players..

People saying they could have coached the Raiders and Broncos to their premierships just sound foolish..

Hate him as much as you like (I do), but it does not take away from the job that he does..

Do you think that guys like Nightingale, Scott, Soward, Hunt, Prior, Merrin, Green, Rein are world beaters??

Brisbane 1992 Grand Final Winners..
Julian O'Neill FB
Michael Hancock WG
Steve Renouf CE
Chris Johns CE
Willie Carne WG
Kevin Walters FE
Allan Langer (c) HB
Glenn Lazarus PR
Kerrod Walters HK
Gavin Allen PR
Trevor Gillmeister SR
Alan Cann SR
Terry Matterson LK
Mark Hohn Bench
Andrew Gee Bench
John Plath Bench
Tony Currie

Sure there are some great players in there, but the most important part of that team is...

Coach - Wayne Bennett

[melon....]

A great coach can take a team of champions and turn them into a champion team. An ordinary coach takes a team of champions and turns them into under achieving talented players - like Real Madrid.