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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2422127, member: 1899"] Well let's get this show on the road. I want to start what could be an extremely long post by addressing an issue that really grinds my gears: the fascination with numbers in Rugby League. Contrary to popular belief, Rugby League cannot be dissected by numbers, numbers don't tell you a difference between a try save and an ordinary flop tackle, won't tell you who was pivotal in the make up of a try and for mine has generated this fascination for quantity > quality which to me isn't Rugby League and is providing a poor education for a new generation of fans coming through. This is why you cannot dissect Bennett's career by adopting an economics approach. An economist would look at Bennett's career and would see this 7 premierships in 25 years (28%) Canberra Raiders Win Percentage: 60.7% Brisbane Broncos Win Percentage: 63.7% St. George Illwarra Win Percentage: 64.6% Newcastle Knights Win Percentage: 40%* [B]Total NRL Win Percentage: [/B]63.5% Representative Queensland Win Percentage: 50% Australia Win Percentage: 75% Source: [url]http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/coaches/Wayne_Bennett/summary.html[/url] [I]I'd include his BRL percentages but unfortunately nobody seems to care enough about that competition which is another pet peeve of mine.[/I] These numbers actually look pretty good but they're not the reason why Bennett is considered such a great coach. To prove this all you need to do is look at the circumstances behind the premierships. 1992/93 - Came off the back of Bennett's decision to go on form and not on reputation. Decisions like favouring the Walters boys over Origin heroes Lewis & Conescu, identifying an issue in the forwards and signing Lazarus & showing patience in players like Renouf paid off and we went from pretenders to a premiership force. 1997/98 - Similar story to 92/93. Bennett identified issues that prevented the Broncos from meeting his high expectations and he made some tough decisions releasing stalwarts such as Kerrod, Carne, Cann & originally Hancock, but he chose to stay on reduced pay for the likes of Lockyer, Webcke & Tallis. Webcke in particular is a prize example of Bennett's coaching. Back in the day, Steve Price was the golden child of Qld junior Rugby League. Everyone lined up for Price and knew he was going to be a good 'un (which he became, but took him until the end of his career to live up to the hype), Webby on the other hand was an unfashionable forward with issues who was really a 100-1 to play at the level he did. Yet Bennett found a way and Webby became the best prop in the game. You can also make a similar case for Tallis. Most experts said he would only be valuable on the bench, Bennett turned him into the best second row in the game and arguably one of the best of all time. At his peak, I don't think anybody touches Tallis. Then there's Lockyer, the greatest of all time. Came to the club as a five eigth, Bennett found traits that he thought would make a good fullback and wouldn't you know it? He was right and that right there gave the Broncos that missing link in attack they were missing years prior and really paved the way for modern fullbacks and how involved they are in playmaking. Combine these factors with a good foundation of skill and old fashioned hard work (De Vere & Campion deserve special mentions here) and Bennett once again got the Brisbane juggernaut right back on track. 2000 - ...until it looked like it derailed in 1999. That was such a hard year to explain, were our players exhausted after two straight premierships? Were some just on borrowed time? Or did Bennett make a mistake in preparation? Nobody knows but in the end, I believe it was Bennett's hard work in '99 that lead to our success in 2000. Before '99 Brisbane were one of the most flamboyant sides in the game filled with playmakers who had no problem shifting the ball around. This was great when everyone was on song, but when times get tough and plays lack the confidence you need that grit and determination to fall back on, this is what Benny developed in '99. I've seen people say we were a sure thing of winning the 2000 premiership and I often wonder how they come to that conclusion? Brisbane had just lost their key player, the kingpin of their success in the 90s & the likes of Renouf, Gee, Plath & Ryan were replaced by virtual no names in Tuqiri, Carlaw, Berrigan & Harrison. Of course Brisbane still had a couple of good players in Lockyer, Sailor, Webcke & Tallis but nobody would have thought these players would have carried a side filled with over the hill players & virtual nobodies not only into a premiership but as easily the most dominant team in the competition. 2006 - Arguably, Bennett's greatest achievement. Off the back of the disappointments of 2001-2005 which ranged from injury crisis' to just not having the troops Bennett finally made a big call and made sweeping changes to his coaching staff. Gone were Walters, Lazarus & Belcher and in came Henjak & Benton and our approach changed. No longer were we going to base our play around one player, instead the focus became more on Hunt and originally Ennis/B. Berrigan & Seymour but that didn't pan out for various reasons so we settled for stop gaps in Perry & McGuire for the majority of the season. When things started to go south, Bennett made some dramatic and very risky changes in... Hodges: Centre - Fullback Berrigan: Centre - Hooker Hunt: Fullback - Roaming Winger Stagg - Backrow - Centre Thaiday - Bench - Starting Backrow And suddenly a season that seemed destined for disappointment turned into a crowning achievement. While we're on the subject of the 2006 GF let me just say this. Any talk about it being a dirty victory is deluded. Even forgetting the Storm going out of their way to cheat the cap (some people need to learn the difference), the Broncos earned that win. Did we get some fortunate 50/50s? Sure, but how many important games did we have where we weren't so lucky? From 2001-2003 we were penalised out of the finals and a victim of rules that would later be changed. The point I'm making is, yes, we were fortunate but it evens out all the times when we weren't. I also have a theory that the 2006 premiership was a by product of all the hard work in 2004 for fairly obvious reasons. 2010 - This post is getting long enough, but in a nut-shell Bennett completely re-invented one of the most complacent clubs in the competition into one of the most professional units and had his finger prints all over their premiership. So as you can see, every premiership was a reward off of Bennett's good thinking. I haven't even touched his Origin career which for mine is just as good despite the numbers. And also address the 2005 Tri Nations series which was filled with plenty of factors. Nor have I compared him to other coaches, that will probably be for another post. In the end though, I just don't know how you can't think Bennett is one of the better coaches of all time. Super doesn't imply perfect, it just means he's above the majority. [/QUOTE]

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