Why ‘double agent’ Wayne hate is ‘laughable’ as hidden agendas exposed: Crawley

There are so many double standards at play in the blow-up about Wayne Bennett being a so-called double-agent working behind the scenes on the Rabbitohs’ rebuild it is laughable.

But let’s start with Bennett talking to Souths players and interim coach Ben Hornby.

I would be more shocked if Bennett wasn’t helping Hornby and the Rabbitohs players try and get their season back on track after signing to return to Souths next year.

Watch every game of every round this NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit.

It’s no secret Bennett remains great mates and a mentor with the majority of the players since he last coached there.

It’s the same with Hornby who was Bennett’s premiership winning captain at the Dragons in 2010 — and the two have remained super close ever since.

I have no doubt if Dean Young was a head coach and looking for advice Bennett would have no qualms giving Young a leg-up either.

Same with Benji Marshall who Bennett formed a tremendous friendship with during his time helping the Kiwis and when Benji was at Souths.

And is it any different to Jason Ryles making some calls in his free time on anything and everything that is going on at Parramatta after Craig Bellamy’s assistant at the Storm signed with the Eels this week?

Would people be furious if they found out Ryles had put in a sneaky call to Zac Lomax to convince the Dragons winger not to backflip on his deal?

The fact is people have been encouraging that.

Or maybe contacting Mitch Moses or Clint Gutherson to help them with how to get the Eels firing for the backend of the season so Ryles doesn’t walk into an even bigger hornet’s nest next year?

Or telling another player he is free to look around.

Which is exactly what Craig Fitzgibbon did when handed control at Cronulla while still employed as Trent Robinson’s assistant at the Roosters.

You might remember one of the big calls Fitzy made was when he contacted Shaun Johnson to let the Kiwi superstar know he wasn’t wanted because Fitzgibbon Sharks had signed Nicho Hynes as Johnson’s halves replacement.

You could go on and on.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Bennett will be on the blower this week plotting the Dolphins’ downfall as they prepare to host the Bunnies on Thursday night.

Yet because the Dolphins have now lost four of the past five games since Bennett’s deal at the Bunnies was confirmed, while the Rabbitohs have won all five, the Bennett haters have come out of the woodwork.

Anyone that knows Bennett knows he makes a hundred phone calls every day and in pretty much every conversation he hands out free advice.

You’d be mad not to listen given his wealth of knowledge on life and rugby league.

No question Bennett does what’s best for Bennett first and foremost.

But that is also why he wouldn’t be stitching up the Dolphins in favour of Souths.

Because his priority right now is making himself look good by attempting to get the Dolphins into their first ever finals series.

Bennett’s critics will think I’m sticking up for the old fella because I happen to get on with him better than some of the other journos.

In the fair dinkum stakes, what I’m really sticking up for is a bit of commonsense.

The fact is the Dolphins aren’t blowing up because they knew the deal as soon as they offered Bennett a three-year contract to start up the new NRL franchise.

And the Dolphins were fully aware Kristian Woolf would be taking over in 2025 because they’d signed him to do exactly that.

Given Bennett had no intentions of ever retiring, that entitled him to go searching for new gig.

And Souths signed him because the 74-year-old is still up with the best coaches in the game.

It’s an extraordinary story that should be celebrated that Bennett still has such a passion for the game that he doesn’t want to retire.

But unfortunately that doesn’t fit into some people’s agendas.

WHY ISN’T WALTERS FACING SAME SCRUTINY AS ARTHUR AND DEMETRIOU?

We all know what a champion bloke Kevvie Walters is.

But perhaps it’s time the Broncos coach sent a thank you card and a nice bottle of red to Jason Demetriou and Brad Arthur for taking the blowtorch off him this season.

It astonishing that we still have nine weeks of the regular season to run and last year’s grand finalists are 11th on the ladder.

But more crucial is the fact they are now on equal competition points with South Sydney at Canberra.

That means the Broncos, Bunnies and Raiders can only afford two more losses or their season will be over.

Yet while the Rabbitohs have been bashed from pillar to post (culminating in Demetriou’s sacking), and Ricky Stuart’s Raiders haven’t fared much better, the Broncos have so far escaped without near the same scrutiny.

You’d expect that will change come Saturday night when the Broncos hit the field at Suncorp for their crucial showdown with the rejuvenated Dragons.

Even allowing for the fact the Broncos will be without their Origin stars, another loss here and all hell could break loose in Brisbane.

Given the top eight cut last year was 32 competition points, that means the Broncos (currently on 18 points) need to win six of their remaining eight games to guarantee their finals spot.

After this round, they take on the Knights, Bulldogs, Titans, Cowboys, bye, Eels, Dolphins and Storm.

You can make all the excuses in the world for the extended absence of Adam Reynolds this year.

But look at how clubs like the Panthers and Storm have maintained their spots up at the top of the ladder without some big-name casualties for huge chunks of the season.

Is Reynolds more important to the Broncos than Nathan Cleary is to the Panthers, or Cameron Munster to the Storm?

He obviously is, but why is the key issue.

Cooper Cronk pointed out recently that the Broncos have fallen into so many bad habits that it would be unreasonable to think Reynolds’s expected return in round 22 is going to fix all their problems.

Cronk used examples of poor completion rates, shoddy defence and players “expecting talent to get them over the line” for their downfall.

Looking at Fox Sports Stats, the Broncos rank 16th in completions, as well as 16th in run metres conceded and offloads conceded, and have the most missed tackles.

There is no doubt the Broncos improved significantly in last round’s hard-fought grand final rematch.

But that still doesn’t change the fact the loss was their fifth straight, and it puts them in a precarious position so far out from the end of the regular season.

There’s no question Walters did an amazing job rebuilding the club after the failed Anthony Seibold experiment.

The Broncos finished 14th in Walters’ first season in 2021, followed by 9th in 2022, and 2nd last year.

But one standout season in four doesn’t cut it at a powerhouse club with all the resources the Broncos have.

We also saw with Arthur’s sacking at Parramatta making a grand final is no guarantee of long-term stability in the cut-throat world of NRL coaching.

Arthur took the Eels to the 2022 decider only to lose his job less than a season and a half later.

Walters could be facing an almost identical situation if the Broncos miss out this year.

While it certainly shouldn’t cost him his job in the short-term, it would mean he’d go into next year as arguably the game’s most under pressure coach.

Of course, it’s not too late to turn it around.

But it must start against the Dragons.

HYNES INJURY LEAVES SHARKS IN SERIOUS DANGER

You can’t help but feel sorry for Nicho Hynes.

When the news first came through on Monday that the Sharks playmaker might have a short spell on the sidelines most were thinking it would do him the world of good after all the pressure he has been under.

But the confirmation Hynes suffered a broken leg and a complete syndesmosis rupture after rolling on his ankle catching a ball at training and will be sidelined for at least two months is about as bad as it gets for the freefalling Sharks.

The fourth-placed Sharks have lost five of their last six and on recent form you couldn’t be confident tipping them to beat last placed Wests Tigers on Friday night.

ORIGIN REF MADE A ROD FOR HIS OWN BACK

The man under the most pressure at Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday night for the State of Origin decider is going to be referee Ashley Klein.

Klein made a rod for his own back with the way he changed his interpretations of what was acceptable and what wasn’t between games one and two.

Now there’s talk the Origin decider could explode with the Blues threatening not to back down after what happened to Matt Burton back in 2022 when Dane Gagai punched portholes in Burton.

But can you imagine if a stink does eventuate what the Suncorp crowd will do if any of the Queenslanders are sin binned or sent off after what the Blues were allowed to get away with in Melbourne?

You get the feeling we’ll be talking about this Origin decider for decades to come.