🐇 Wayne Bennett, AM | Rabbitohs Coach #32
Full Name: Wayne James Bennett, AM, OAM
Nickname: Benny, Supercoach
Born: 1/1/1950 at Allora, QLD
Club Playing Career: Collegians Warwick 1970; All Whites Toowoomba 1971-72; Huddersfield 1972-73; Brisbane Brothers 1973-75; Ipswich 1976; Souths Brisbane 1977
Representative Playing Career: Australia 1971 (two tour games, one try); Queensland 1971-73 (seven games, two tries, one goal); South Queensland 1972; Toowoomba 1972; City (QRL) 1974; Brisbane 1975
Club Coaching Career: Ipswich 1976; Souths Brisbane 1977-79 and 1984-85; Brothers Brisbane 1980-82; Canberra 1987; Brisbane 1988-2008 and 2015-18 (premiers in 1992-93, 1997-98, 2000 and 2006); St. George Illawarra 2009-11 (premiers in 2010); Newcastle 2012-14; South Sydney 2019-21 and 2025-current; Dolphins 2023-24
Representative Coaching Career: Queensland Under-18s 1985; Queensland 1986-88, 1998, 2001-03 and 2020; Queensland Super League 1997; Australia 1998 and 2004-05; All Golds 2007; NRL All Stars 2010-13, 2015; World All Stars 2016; England 2016-18; Great Britain 2019
Awards and Accolades: Dally M Coach of the Year 1987, 2000 and 2015; Brisbane premiership winner (as a Coach) 1992-93, 1997-98, 2000 and 2006; Queensland Father of the Year 1998; Super League Coach of the Year 1997; Australian Sports Medal 2000; Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) 1994; Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2004; RLIF Coach of the Year 2005 and 2010; St. George Illawarra premiership winner (as a Coach) 2010; Sport Australia Hall of Fame 2012; NRL Hall of Fame (Inductee No. 136) 2024
The grand old master who has achieved almost every possible honour in the Greatest Game of All. The talented goal-kicking winger started his illustrious career with Collegians Warwick, played in England with Huddersfield, All Whites Toowoomba, Ipswich and Souths Brisbane, as well as representing Brisbane, City (QRL), South Queensland, Queensland and Australia in two tour games.
Bennett started coaching in 1976, firstly with Ipswich, the following season he was captain-coach at Souths Brisbane. He then retired from playing at the end of 1977 but continued coaching Souths Brisbane for the next two years. He retired from coaching after the birth of his three children, returning in 1983 as coach of minor grades. The following season he took over the head coaching role at Souths Brisbane for his second stint, taking them to the grand final, which they lost to Wynnum. The Old Fox sprinkled his magic dust over his Souths Brisbane team when they took revenge and won the premiership in 1984 against Wynnum, which included Australian captain Wally Lewis and Gene Miles in their side.
In 1986, he took over as coach of the Queensland State of Origin team, with the Maroons losing the series three-nil; however, Bennett was retained as the Maroons coach for the next two years. His NRL coaching career took off in 1987 when he was appointed co-coach of the Canberra Raiders team alongside the then Australian team coach, Don Furner. The pair took Canberra to their very first grand final appearance in that year, which they lost to Manly by 18-8. The Maroons also won the Origin series two-one in 1987 under his coaching.
When the Brisbane Broncos were admitted into the newly expanded ARL premiership, Bennett was appointed as their inaugural coach where he would continue coaching them until 2008. The Broncos won six premierships during his first stint at the club, taking the title in 1992-93, 1997 Super League, 1998, 2000, and 2006.
He then signed a three-year deal to coach St. George Illawarra Dragons in 2009-11, winning the premiership in 2010. In 2012, Bennett commenced his four-year deal with the Newcastle Knights, but left the club at the end of 2014 after club ownership changes made him a free agent at the end of that season. In 2013 he took Newcastle one game away from the grand final when they were defeated by Sydney Roosters in the preliminary final by 40-14.
He returned as Brisbane Broncos coach in 2015, and his side were beaten in Golden Point extra-time by North Queensland Cowboys in the grand final by 17-16. The Cowboys scored a try at the death to equalize the score and take the game into extra-time, and from the kick-off in extra-time, Broncos halfback, Ben Hunt, dropped the ball to give the Cowboys a chance of scoring that memorable winning field goal by Johnathan Thurston. Tension between club officials and Bennett grew from there, and on 2 December 2018, his tenure at the Broncos came to an end.
He then signed a three-year deal as coach of the mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs, taking them to two preliminary finals and one closely fought grand final appearance in 2021. For the record, Penrith won their third title after defeating the Rabbitohs by 14-12 in that memorable 2021 grand final.
Bennett coached the newly formed Dolphins outfit in 2023-24, before signing another three-year deal for his second stint at the Rabbitohs, citing ‘unfinished business’ at the club.
The seven-times premiership winning coach is the longest serving coach in the game’s history, having coached in excess of 900 games at the elite level and over 1100 including representative football.
In 2024 he was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame, alongside Jack Gibson, becoming the first ever coaches to receive such an honor.
