It’s easy to point the finger at Wayne Bennett for sending Newcastle to the dumps with no chance of recovery.
With one year remaining on his Knights deal, the current Brisbane mentor left the Novocastrians in his trail after the Nathan Tinkler-era came to a disastrous end in 2014, leaving the club both broke and coachless as he took up a more enticing offer to return to Red Hill.
It’s a move that has turned Bennett into the Hunter’s public enemy number one, despised for turning his back on a failed project that eventually resulted in three consecutive wooden spoons for the Knights.
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But the club should look in the mirror and take responsibility for their recent downfall instead of blaming Bennett’s ‘little head’, according to The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley.
‘’At what point do Newcastle and the Newcastle Knights accept responsibility that Wayne left in 2014 and we’re now in 2018? Because what coach goes into a roster, happy with a situation where a coach has walked away? None,’’ Crawley told Fox Sports’ NRL 360.
‘’In 2013 – one game short of a grand final…following year they had the drama with Russell Packer at the start of the season then they had Alex’s (McKinnon) terrible injury, then they had the fact that on the 15th of each month more often then not the players and the staff didn’t get paid.
‘’At the end of the season, it was turmoil. Every staff member was told to reapply for their job under different conditions.
‘’People expected Wayne to stay but at the end of the day, who hasn’t left an organisation for a better offer?
‘’…It wasn’t all Wayne’s fault when the Nathan Tinkler system fell over.’’
Bennett’s tenure at Newcastle hit headlines again four years after his departure from the club when Nathan Brown hit back with a knockout sledge after the 68-year-old claimed he had ‘unbuilt’ his hard work for the red and blue.
“I just don’t think he needs to behave like that myself but the reality is when Wayne came to town if he thought with his big head rather than his little head, I wouldn’t have had to rebuild the joint,’’ Brown fired in reference to his relationship with his current partner.
Have a crack at a man’s coaching tactics, his attitude or even his players, but Crawley says bringing private lives into the sledging arena is hitting a new low.
‘’Everyone is just sitting there and laughing at some man’s misfortune and for me you don’t say that at a press conference,’’ Crawley said.
‘’Nathan might have been upset with the fact Wayne came out and had a crack at him, he might have seen it that way (but) I’m not necessarily sure it was a crack.
‘’To take it into the next level and into the gutter and talk about someone’s private life and everyone out there who enjoyed the laugh – half of society has gone through marriage troubles and break-ups and divorces. Do you really need to take it to a press conference?
‘’At the end of the day I can’t believe the NRL hasn’t acted on it. A couple of years ago Ricky Stuart got fined $10,000 for saying s*** and he immediately pulled himself up and said ‘sorry, I didn’t mean to say that’. On this occasion it just goes straight through to the keeper.
‘’I wonder if it was said about Todd Greenberg or one of his senior staff or one of his referees or one of his female employees, do you think he would have sat back on his hand and allowed it to go through to the keeper?
‘’…Because Wayne Bennett is the public punching bag at the moment it’s okay. Well it’s not okay, mate. What if another coach goes and says that about another coach and that coach doesn’t happen to be a 68-year-old man but a 48-year-old man who wants to knock his block off?’’
Brown has since apologised to his new rival, personally calling Bennett and Ben Ikin – who is married to his daughter – to clear the air.