Will be announced as the the new England coach according to Gary Carter on his Twitter
Will be announced as the the new England coach according to Gary Carter on his Twitter
This is what I would like to see, Wane the motivator with Watson, Wellens and scully (if they are still involved) working on tactics and skills, set moves etc. Just happy to be shut of Bennet
Maybe the meeting date changed, but I thought they were meeting on the 6th to decide on the appointment.
Fingers crossed for a 3-0 Australia whitewash. Can’t bring myself to support him, his brand of rugby or his teams.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
I get it Don I really do. However we need a UK coach and he can and does get inferior teams up for big games. Goons v Wire GF his last game, Wire miles ahead ability wise. Plus the specs he know wears takes a portion of the ape about him away. Elocution lessons with Farrell start next week.
I don’t want to watch awful rugby that his sides play. Granted, he could get a tune out of some poor Wigan sides and his sides were always up for a game but the brand of rugby was dour and aggressive and rarely did it, as a neutral, get you on the edge of your seat. Maybe we’ve been blessed with Justin Holbrook and some of the Saints sides of the 90’s-00’s but I want to see a good brand of attacking rugby not a “grind”.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
The rugby can't be any worse than the guff Bennett served up and at least he'll be passionate and isn't afraid to give younger players a go.
I always hated him as Wigan coat but I've met him a couple of times and he's a decent bloke, I also get the feeling he plays up to being thick and is actually a lot smarter than that. You don't run a successful business and get top jobs in both codes by being stupid.
I haven't enjoyed watching any games that Bennett has coached and if England can be got to win against the Aussies well I will enjoy that .
People are clouding their judgement on Bennett’s based on his last three or four games, which was a sham of a tour and he used for his own purposes (fair enough). He was an ankle tap from winning the World Cup barely a year or two before.
International Rugby is different to club rugby and while he gave youngsters a go, it’s a complete different environment Internationally.
I don’t think he’s thick. I can appreciate that he’s got a tune out of Wigan sides that often weren’t the best team in the competition that year but managed to get them to peak at the right times. However, the way in which he goes about playing the game and his behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
How often have we heard this in uk rugby league in the last 40 years. ‘We nearly won this’ or ‘we would have won but for x y or z.’
Fact is the record of our national team is abysmal and a national disgrace. Bennett’s rugby was more dour than his demeanour which was some achievement.
Same here, doesn't show any respect to the Superleague here in the UK and has probably put the brakes on a couple of potential players with their international careers. Always seems to go for a "NRL Style" player with a low error count selecting John Bateman at Centre and Josh Hodgson first choice hooker are examples.
Another issue for me is image profile to our international game, OK the important thing for a head coach is the results but they need to do a bit of PR as well to promote a positive profile, Bennett just has the appearance and charisma as though he is just doing this job with a bit of reluctance and would blow a gasket if GB beats OZ
Bennett is bad for the game in the UK. He is truly awful but fits in with Sinfield Wood and Rimmer.
I couldn’t care less if England play the grind or the most expansive RL ever. It’s about winning and sticking it to the Aussies in Ashes series and World Cups.
We follow Saints, we get to see good RL most weeks, and that is our bread and butter. England play a handful of games at the end of the season, and our enjoyment of the game isn’t dictated by now the national side play. We’ve been a moderately effective yet boring team under Bennett, until this year when we became an ineffective and boring team. It’s not like Wane will come in and rip up a glorious blueprint.
I wouldn’t want a coach like him near Saints because that would be 9 months of my life watching RL I hate. But for England, for 3-4 weeks, go for it as long as it produces a competitive national team that wins Test matches and attracts support from English RL fans in this pivotal two years we have. And having a coach that actually lives in England, watches English RL, will be available to the English RL media and will pick players based on form and ability rather than whether they have an NRL logo on their sleeve means a great deal as well.
Here’s the fuller BBC story:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51347982
I just hope he can get us winning.
I don’t think anyone was really complaining about the style of play under Bennett, and aside from the GB tour the results had generally been good. What people really took issue with was the selection policy. Players being played out of position, form being completely ignored in favour of NRL plodders. Bennett came across as someone who didn’t give a toss about super league and the potential positive effect a winning national side could have on the game over here. Glad he’s gone.
You only have to look at Tonga to see how far motivation to play for the jersey will get you. Man for man they are not better than England, Australia or New Zealand but the passion and intensity they play with elevates them above their usual abilities. Wane got that out of his Wigan side so fingers crossed he can do it for England. There are some really exciting players we can build a team around.
Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.
Disagree. There was a match at The Olympic Stadium where the rugby was horribly one dimensional. It summed up Bennett perfectly and also ruined an opportunity to attract new fans. The results were slowly giung downhill and his position became insecure given how atrociously boring his rugby is.
Where I do agree is the point on selections. I think we will see an end to ‘he plays in the NRL so he must be good’ style selections and players in positions they’ve not played for their clubs.
Ok then I will look forward to a team chosen from English/ British players with only the VERY best of the ones playing in Australia playing for England /Britain , he will have all the best of British to choose from, good luck .
Thank goodness Bennett has gone. If we are going to get beat lets play a bit of rugby.
I can't stand Wane, but I've no problem with him as England manager and am happy to give him a clean slate.
I don't expect England to be playing like Millward-era Saints, but it can't be worse than the boring, one-dimensional, safety-first crap Bennet had us playing.
His main benefit will be his enthusiasm in front of the media. Yes, he talks like he's a chromosomally-challenged simpleton from bygone times. But he's passionate about RL in this country, and whereas Bennett made the media feel like they'd just asked him if they could gang-bang his daughter and empty his fridge of beer, Wane is open and friendly to the media. Especially with the World Cup coming up, that is important.