‘I spent 40 years of living under pressure': Wayne Bennett not feeling the heat as the master coach addresses South Sydney's form slump

News.com.au

5 days ago

Master coach Wayne Bennett says he's spent 40 years living under pressure in the job which is why he's not feeling it now as focus shifts on South Sydney's form on the back of a six-game losing streak.
The most experienced man in the game has enjoyed unrivalled success at several clubs, but things haven't gone to plan in his second stint at the Rabbitohs who are only ahead of the Titans on the ladder.
Not even Bennett's magic dust has been able to save them, with the Rabbitohs enduring a horror injury toll that forced stars Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Campbell Graham to miss plenty of games, while skipper Cam Murray hasn't played at all after rupturing an achilles in the pre-season.
South Sydney's poor record in all grades has become a talking point this week, with Bennett's players quick to leap to the defence of the man who could very well coach Australia at the end of the year.
'I spent 40 years of living under pressure so I don't feel it, it doesn't worry me,' he said ahead of the game against a Penrith side missing Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo.
'I know we're doing the right things and we're on the right track, but we're not where the top teams are.
'Regardless of what our results are, that's what we're driving pretty hard here as coaches is to fix up some areas that we need to be better at, regardless of who's playing and regardless of how well we're playing.
'Some of the things that we're dishing up at the moment aren't going to put us in that position in 12 months' time or two years' time.
'It's a process. I know how it works and I've done it long enough, so we'll get there.'
The Rabbitohs started the season strongly but have fallen away in recent weeks, with injuries to key personnel not helping.
New recruit Brandon Smith injured his knee in his first game for the club but is expected to be back in 2-3 weeks, while Walker has been restricted to just eight appearances as he battles calf and hamstring issues.
There were fears he'd be ruled out for the season, but Bennett is confident he'll be back in 4-6 weeks.
'He was at rehab training the other day and hurt another part of his leg,' he said, confident the veteran five-eighth will see out his 2026 deal.
'He's going to do another year here. They're injuries that you can miss them or get them, so we're taking a risk with it and hopefully we get more out of him going forward.
'He's been handling it pretty well. It's not easy for him, but at the same time he's doing everything right and we're doing everything right with him.'