In response to Warren Smith's rant (appearing in full below) on Foxsports, admonishing Wayne Bennett for his performance at the media conference after the Broncos vs Panthers game on March 30, 2007:
It's all very well for people to say Give the media a fair go - they're promoting the game, but a rugby league coach is one of a select group of professions where your performance is judged by both those who know (the players, the staff at the club, and to a lesser extent, the board of directors) and those who, for the most part, don't (the media). For all those who have no idea why Bennett has a beef with the media, refer back to the umpteen times in his 21 year coaching stint where the Broncos were in a form slump and the media were baying for his blood. In fact, that happened last season... two months later the premiership was safely locked away at Red Hill. I wonder how many people would be willing to talk ad nauseum to those who publish stories intimating they should be sacked or are underperforming in their jobs? Yes, coaches have an obligation to answer questions, and the media has an ethical obligation (journos might have to google that one, e-t-h-i-c-s) too, do they not?
And that's how I'm seeing it...
Mickos.
(PS. This from Al: Myself and Mickos actually had the chance to meet Wayne Bennett in the locker rooms a couple of years ago. He happily gave us about half an hour of his time and you honestly won't meet a more personable, friendly, funny bloke. The real Wayne Bennett has barely a passing acquaintance with the surly, gruff exterior he puts up when he's dealing with people he doesn't particularly trust.)
The full Warren Smith article:
The headline of this blog is taken from the title of Wayne Bennett's last book. It's a good book - as each of his other collections of rugby league thoughts and stories has been - but it's hard not to wonder what the coach in the books would make of the coach at the "media conference" at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night.
Having watched his Broncos fall off the edge of a cliff to hand two premiership points to the Panthers, Bennett set a new personal best for churlishness when he all-so-briefly fronted the media.
Among other highlights, the 21-season NRL coaching veteran offered only "I'll pass on that" when asked for an appraisal of the four-try performance of star centre Justin Hodges.
You'll pass on that?
Were the efforts of Hodges, no matter how good or bad, not worthy of any type of reflection?
We understand you'd be disappointed with a heartbreaking loss that made the defending premier's record 0-3. But Wayne, after all this time, with all the lessons learned and then written about in the books that are as much about life as they are rugby league, you can't answer one question about the events that unfolded in the preceding two hours?
You may not have wanted to talk to anybody for the next decade after being forced to sit through the excruciating final 10 minutes of that game, but isn't fronting up and treating success and failure as the impostors they are just a small part of the deal?
Giving the journos nothing may or may not have been the goal, but they still have a story to write and the result of the game won't have changed by the time the papers are delivered next morning.
The people who buy those papers, who watch the Broncos on television, who buy their jerseys and spend their money going to the games, are the folk you've short-changed.
They make the investment, financially and emotionally, that provides a lot of things for a lot of people who make a living from the game.
All they ask in return is that when your team wins or loses, you give them your thoughts on why they did.
After all, things are never as bad as they seem.
Hell, just think: If you hadn't changed your mind, you could right now be head coach of the Roosters!
I'm not sure what music the Broncos have inside them, but after their coach imposed a media ban on everybody, they are not even allowed to hum to the press.
And another thing. When assessing the form of any number of star players returning to the game after time out through injury, you'd be well advised to consider what that player has had to overcome just to get back onto the field.
You, too, might be a little hesitant every now and again if, like Benji Marshall, you'd just undergone another reconstruction of your shoulder. Or you'd had vertebrae shaved and screwed, and discs nipped and tucked, as Anthony Minichiello has.