Wayne Bennett has come under fire for working two jobs at the same time after reports the master coach has become heavily involved with South Sydney while still leading the Dolphins.
The NRL’s 17th franchise made a red-hot start to the season under Bennett but have slipped to lose three of their last four games.
The worrying run of forms coincides with Bennett being announced four weeks ago as the Rabbitohs’ new head coach from 2025.
And according to reports he has been working the phones, speaking to players alongside interim coach Ben Hornby.
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Now, after losing nine of their first 10 games, the Rabbitohs have won four games in-a-row prompting veteran rugby league reporter Phil Rothfield to question where Bennett’s focus lies.
“It was four weeks ago he announced he was leaving the Dolphins… since then the Dolphins have lost three of their last four games,” Rothfield said on the Big Sports Breakfast.
“The Rabbitohs have come from nowhere to win their last four games, it’s no secret, whenever you pick the paper up there’s a Souths player saying they spoke to Wayne.
“James Hooper said last week that Wayne was chatting to Ben Hornby and said move (Keaon) Koloamatangi from the edge to the middle. Latrell is on the phone to him quite often.
“I love the fact Wayne cares about those boys and he is heading there, but if this happened in a major business, and I use the example of retail.
“If the boss of David Jones quit and joined Myer next year, would he be planning the Boxing Day sales with the staff at the new joint? Would he be making the recruitment decisions?
“I’m not saying the Dolphins are gone or anything, they just aren’t winning and this game is about winning.”
Bennett has also reportedly been making recruitment decisions, and played a major role in allowing Damien Cook to depart Redfern ahead of the 2025 season.
Cook reportedly had a conversation with the master coach before making his decision, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal with the Red V club.
“He rubber stamped Damien Cook walking out on the last year of his contract to join St George Illawarra, he talked Euan Aitken into leaving the Dolphins to come to Souths,” Rothfield said.
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Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader meanwhile defended Bennett, telling The Daily Telegraph “Wayne’s got one job and that’s coaching us”.
“He’s just concerned about the team performing each week. We’re not worried about it at all. We’ve got Kristian Woolf looking after our planning for next year and beyond,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rothfield also questioned the Dolphins’ decision to only hand Bennett a two-year deal before rookie NRL coach Kristian Woolf takes over.
Bennett has signed with the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2027 season, and there’s even talk he could be the 18th franchise’s first coach beyond that deal.
“It’s the Dolphins who made the decision to sign Wayne that he would only do it for two years, they could have said lets do four,” Rothfield said.
“They could have put a clause in that said we could continue if both parties wish to, I just thought it was an interesting debate to have.”