Originally Posted by
Nols of the Goldy
TITANS COULD HAVE HAD BENNETT
GOLD Coast Titans bosses will never truly realise how close they could have come to snaring super coach Wayne Bennett.
Blindside can reveal Bennett was prepared to join the Titans for $600,000-a-season after being told by Broncos hierarchy last year that he would not be getting a contract extension for the 2020 season.
Determined to coach on, Bennett reached out to several clubs via a trusted associate. The third-party made contact with Titans co-owner Darryl Kelly, but the Gold Coast were keen to back Garth Brennan as coach and had the signature of Mal Meninga as performance boss in the pipeline.
The Titans feared chasing Bennett might cost them $1 million a season but the NRL’s greatest coach was prepared to accept far less to prove Broncos bosses wrong and turn the Coast into a genuine finals force.
If Bennett leads the Rabbitohs to the premiership this season, the Titans’ dithering could come back to haunt them.