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Message: [QUOTE="Super Freak, post: 2711582, member: 8536"] [b]Re: Wayne Bennett dumped from competition committee, Michael Maguire named in his pla[/b] [B]IT has been a bad month for Wayne Bennett.[/B] Just weeks after Brisbane lost the NRL grand final to North Queensland under the golden point rule he despises, the Broncos coach has endured a series of body blows in the past few days. On Thursday, Bennett was told he was out of the running for the vacant Australian Test coaching job unless he quit his Brisbane post. And on Friday he was voted off the NRL’s Competition Committee by his own peers with South Sydney coach Michael Maguire replacing Bennett on the 11-person panel. Seven coaches nominated for two vacancies, which will be filled by Maguire and Roosters mentor Trent Robinson who were voted in by the 16 NRL coaches. Despite Bennett’s axing from the powerful committee which decides on NRL rule changes, Queensland will still have a strong voice. Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith, Jillaroos skipper Steph Hancock, retired great Darren Lockyer and former coach John Lang are on the panel that will also include the incoming NRL CEO, NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg, ARLC chairman John Grant, referees boss Tony Archer and an RLPA representative. Greenberg thanked Bennett for his service to the committee and praised the inclusion of Maguire who “will bring a new voice to the room’’. “The coaches collectively wanted to vote for their own representatives on the Competition Committee and Trent and Michael will no doubt be important voices in the group,’’ Greenberg said. “We have an incredibly strong coaching group and I’m sure Trent and Michael will be exceptional representatives of the group on the important Competition Committee.” Bennett was a guest speaker at the Paul Morgan Charity Lunch in Brisbane on Friday and said he accepted the decision of the ARLC to go with a fulltime national coach, free of any club ties. “No, I’m not (disappointed with the ARLC decision),’’ he said. “They are there to make decisions about what they want, so I’m fine with that. At least I know where I stand now.’’ However, Bennett said he could have handled both club and national duties as he has in the past. “I wouldn’t have put my name down if I didn’t think I could do them both, but they (ARLC) make the rules,’’ he said. The ARLC decision puts Mal Meninga in the box seat to take control of the Kangaroos but Bennett would not be drawn on what his long-time former player might do. “He (Meninga) will have to give up the state job. What he wants to do will be his decision,’’ he said. At the charity lunch which raised funds for The Heart Foundation, Bennett revealed what he said to shattered Broncos halfback Ben Hunt after the NRL decider and said gathering his own emotions after losing the grand final was one of his greatest challenges. “I walked up to Ben. He was on the ground and wasn’t in a good place. I grabbed him, picked him up and said, ‘a lot of people in the world are in a lot worse places than you are, so get on with your life. We wouldn’t be here without what you’ve done this season. Move on’,’’ Bennett said. [URL="http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/brisbane-coach-wayne-bennett-has-been-voted-off-the-nrls-competition-committee/story-fndv2w3r-1227599413561"]Bennett has a month from hell[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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