Bennett made the 2021 first grade premiership decider with South Sydney.
Bennett had a short playing career in Brisbane and England and at representative level before moving into coaching. Bennett worked in the police force from a young age of 15, assisted in his people management skills. Before coming to South Sydney, Bennett was considered the most successful and experienced first grade coach in Australian rugby League history. He was a 7 time premiership winning coach, as well as successful state and international coach. He won his first premiership trophy in 1992 and his last in 2010, with two different clubs. Bennett was also a state and internal representative as a player before he moved into his coaching career. He was the longest serving serving coach in NRL history, coaching at the top level for 42 seasons before joining South Sydney.
Bennett signed to coach South Sydney for 2020 season, but after the Brisbane Broncos poached the incumbant South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold, all parties negotiated a release and joined South Sydney for the 2019 season in what was a coaching swap. He made his first grade premiership debut as a coach for South Sydney in the 2019 Round 1 clash against the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Bennett joined South Sydney on a set term of 2 years as a transitional head coach role to his coaching assistant James Demetriou who was planned to takeover as first grade coach from 2022. In 2020 he had the rare distinction of being suspended from coaching for 2 matches for breach of covid protocols. He came within a whisker of winning another premiership during the covid effected 2021 season.
After guiding the inaugural Brisbane Broncos in 1988, Bennett returned home to Queensland to be the inaugural NRL coach of the Dolphins from Redcliffe. But in 2023 after a major fall from grace by South Sydney under rookie coach James Demetriou, South Sydney club owner Russell Crowe pushed for Bennett to return to South Sydney. And in mid 2024 Demetriou was released and Bennett returned as head coach in 2025.
Bennett the grand master of coaching at the NRL level, is a multi-facited head coach from being a astute football operations manager, media manager, mentor, player physcologist and game day tactician. Having the ability to make vital player changes, keeping others on the field just as team needs to achieve a result almost every week. While not focused on pre-match game plans, he works on the developing players confidence so they play to the best of their ability He lets his assistants drive the team training and fitness management, all under his watchful eye.
Bennett continued his representative coaching career at South Sydney, picking up the coaching of 2019 Great Britain end of season tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Then during Covid he took over as Queensland State of Origin coach in 2020.
Player/Coaching Relatives
Brother - Bennett, Bob (Past Brothers)
(PNG)
Uncle - Bronsan, Eddie (Toowoomba)
Father-In-Law - Vievers, Jack (Bris-Souths)
Brother-In-Law - Vievers, Phil (Bris-Souths)
(St Helens)
(Huddersfield)
(Swinton)
(Salford City)
(Workington Town)
Brother-In-Law - Vievers, Greg (Bris-Souths)
(Huddersfield)
Son-In-Law - Ikin, Ben (North Sydney)
Height / Weight
191cm /
Date of Birth
Allora, Qld - 1st January 1950
Previous Clubs
First Grade
Premiership : Cup
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
Ipswich (1976) : 1( 0- 0-1 0%) (Captain-Coach)
Bris-Souths (1977-79) 66( 31- 0-35 46%) : 4( 2- 0-2 50%) (Captain-Coach 1977)
Past Brothers (1984-85) 57( 23- 2-32 40%) :
Bris-Souths (1984-85) 47( 32- 1-17 68%) :
Canberra (1987) 28( 17- 0-11 61%) :
Brisbane (1988-96) 213(132- 2-65 62%) : 26( 20- 0-6 79%)
Brisbane (SL) (1997) 20( 16- 1-3 80%) : 9( 9- 0-0 0%)
Brisbane (1998-08) 291(171- 9-131 59%) : 2( 0- 0-2 0%) (excludes 2 games on SOO duties)
St George-Illawarra (2009-11) 79( 51- 1-27 65%) :
Newcastle (2012-14) 75( 34- 1-49 45%) :
Brisbane (2015-18) 105( 67- 0-38 64%) :
Dolphins (2023-24) 48( 20- 0-28 42%) : 4( 2- 0-2 50%)
Previous Rep Honours M( W- D-L %)
Queensland U18s (1985)
Queensland (1986-03) 22( 11- 1-10 50%)
Queensland (SL) (1997) 3( 1- 0-2 33%)
Australia (1998-05) 17( 13- 1-3 76%)
NZ All Golds (2007) 1( 1- 0-0 100%)
New Zealand (2008) (Assistant Coach)
NRL All Stars (2010-15) 5( 2- 0-3 40%)
World All Stars (2016) 1( 1- 0-0 100%)
England (2016-18) 16( 11- 0-5 69%)
Previous Awards
NRL Dally M Coach of the Year (1987 - Canberra)
OAM - Medal of the Order of Australia (1994) Services to the Sport of Rugby League
SL Coach of the Year (1997 - Brisbane)
Father of the Year (1998)
NRL Dally M Coach of the Year (2000 - Brisbane)
Australian Sports Medal (2000) Significant contribution to the development of sport
AM - Member of the Order of Australia (2004) Service to Rugby League football
RLIF Coach of the Year (2005)
RLIF Coach of the Year (2010)
Sport Australia Hall of Fame (2012 Inductee)
NRL Dally M Coach of the Year (2015 - Brisbane)
Coaching Career at South Sydney (2019-21,25)
South Sydney First Grade Coaching Debut
2019 Mar 15 Rd01 SCG v Sydney Roosters (69y 73d)
Contracted Until
End of 2027
First Grade
Premiership : Cup
M( W- D-L %) Position : M( W- D-L %) Position
2019 27( 17- 0-10 63%) 3rd/16 Finalist :
2020 21( 12- 0-9 57%) 4th/16 Finalist : (excludes 2 suspended games)
2021 27( 22- 0-5 81%) 3rd/16 Runners Up :
2025 :
TOTAL 75( 51- 0-24 68%) :
SS FG 75( 51- 0-24 68%)
Coaching Summary at South Sydney
Versus - First Grade
(FG) Premiership : (FG) Cup
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
Brisbane 5( 4- 0-1 80%) :
Canberra 5( 2- 0-3 40%) :
Canterbury 7( 5- 0-2 71%) :
Cronulla 4( 2- 0-2 50%) :
Dolphins 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
Gold Coast 4( 4- 0-0 100%) :
Manly 6( 5- 0-1 83%) :
Melbourne 6( 0- 0-6 0%) :
Newcastle 5( 2- 0-3 40%) :
Nth Qld 4( 3- 0-1 75%) :
Parramatta 5( 4- 0-1 80%) :
Penrith 9( 2- 0-6 33%) :
St Geo-Ill 6( 1- 0-0 100%) : 1( 0- 0-1 100%)
Syd Rstrs 8( 6- 0-2 75%) :
Warriors 5( 4- 0-1 80%) :
Wests-Tig 6( 5- 0-1 83%) :
Venues - First Grade
(FG) Premiership : (FG) Cup
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
StAu 29( 19- 0-10 66%) :
Brok 2( 1- 0-1 50%) :
Bruc 5( 2- 0-3 40%) :
Camp 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
Dubb 1( 0- 0-1 0%) :
Ende 2( 0- 0-2 0%) :
Gosf 1( 0- 0-1 0%) :
Koga 3( 2- 0-1 67%) :
LngS 9( 6- 0-3 67%) :
MRSt 3( 0- 0-3 0%) :
MtSm 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
Mudg : 1( 0- 0-1 100%)
NISC 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
NQSt 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
Penr 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
PrSt 1( 0- 0-1 0%) :
Robi 4( 4- 0-0 100%) :
SCG 2( 1- 0-1 50%) :
SunS 3( 3- 0-0 100%) :
Town 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
Woll 1( 1- 0-0 100%) :
WSS 12( 8- 0-4 67%) :
Match Statistics at South Sydney
2019 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Grd Tac Pe MT LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG OOL GP: Grd Tac Pe MT LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG OOL
ChSh St Geo-Ill Mudg W 36-24 297 12 19 5 1412 4 10 14 4 7 4/7 - 2 :
Rd01 Syd Rstrs SCG W 26-16 268 3 21 2 1628 11 8 24 5 5 3/5 - 9 :
Rd02 St Geo-Ill Koga W 34-18 293 9 33 6 1617 11 6 21 3 6 5/6 - 17 :
Rd03 Gold Coast StAu W 28-20 299 1 18 5 1731 11 8 23 4 4 6/8 - 16 :
Rd04 Manly Brok L 12-13 305 6 37 3 1793 12 12 24 1 2 2/5 - 8 GP:
Rd05 Warriors SunS W 18-14 292 6 39 5 1651 7 8 20 3 5 4/5 - 15 :
Rd06 Canterbury StAu W 14-6 314 8 15 4 1812 8 11 23 2 2 3/3 - 8 :
Rd07 Penrith Penr W 22-18 334 6 27 4 1426 13 9 17 3 4 3/5 - 11 :
Rd08 Brisbane StAu W 38-6 291 3 36 5 1811 10 7 22 4 6 7/7 - 8 :
Rd09 Nth Qld LngS W 32-16 327 9 25 7 1603 8 3 21 3 5 6/7 - 10 :
Rd10 Canberra Bruc W 16-12 336 8 31 3 1461 7 7 22 2 2 4/4 - 4 :
Rd11 Wests-Tig StAu W 32-16 329 4 30 5 1849 11 7 19 3 5 6/6 - 9 :
Rd12 Parramatta WSS L 14-26 378 5 47 5 1565 10 5 19 2 2 3/3 - 16 :
Rd13 Newcastle StAu L 12-20 283 6 26 3 1285 16 6 14 1 2 2/3 - 5 :
Rd14 Penrith StAu L 18-19 374 7 18 2 1335 16 3 13 2 3 3/4 - 12 :
Rd15 Wests-Tig WSS L 9-14 396 7 18 2 1477 13 5 23 1 1 2/2 1 6 :
Rd17 Manly StAu W 21-20 337 2 37 3 1694 5 6 18 3 3 4/5 1 20 :
Rd18 Nth Qld Town W 30-18 374 6 17 4 1513 11 9 17 4 5 5/5 - 7 :
Rd19 St Geo-Ill StAu W 20-16 326 4 17 6 1834 10 6 25 3 4 2/5 - 8 :
Rd20 Cronulla Ende L 24-39 327 5 18 2 1271 14 6 11 3 4 4/4 - 10 :
Rd21 Melbourne Gosf L 16-26 287 7 30 3 1599 6 10 18 3 3 2/4 - 11 :
Rd22 Canterbury StAu L 6-14 371 6 26 - 1575 12 11 18 - - 3/3 - 15 :
Rd23 Brisbane LngS W 22-20 340 4 47 5 1527 13 17 11 3 3 5/5 - 10 :
Rd24 Warriors MtSm W 31-10 261 8 24 7 1747 4 9 20 3 4 7/7 1 10 :
Rd25 Syd Rstrs StAu W 16-10 342 4 37 4 1466 11 5 18 1 2 4/4 - 11 :
MPSF Syd Rstrs SCG L 6-30 387 4 30 2 1402 11 14 18 1 1 1/1 - 9 :
MSF Manly StAu W 34-26 291 3 36 6 1616 10 4 18 3 5 7/9 - 10 :
MF Canberra Bruc L 10-16 318 3 30 5 1675 11 7 25 2 2 1/2 - 9 :
2020 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Grd Tac Pe 6A MT LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG OOL GP: Grd Tac Pe 6A MT LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG OOL
ChSh St Geo-Ill Mudg W 26-12 293 4 - 27 6 1800 15 19 19 - 5 3/5 - 5 :
Rd01 Cronulla StAu W 22-18 331 13 - 31 3 1493 9 9 20 2 3 5/5 - 7 :
Rd02 Brisbane LngS L 18-22 331 5 - 45 2 1442 12 6 12 2 3 3/4 - 10 :
Rd03 Syd Rstrs WSS L 12-28 369 4 2 32 3 1630 6 6 21 2 2 2/2 - 7 :
Rd04 Melbourne MRSt L 8-22 356 6 2 18 2 1468 18 9 13 1 1 2/2 - 9 :
Rd05 Gold Coast WSS W 32-12 322 9 4 18 3 1587 6 7 21 5 6 6/6 - 12 :
Rd06 Warriors WSS W 40-12 358 4 3 16 6 1573 17 7 18 6 7 6/7 - 9 :
Rd07 Penrith Koga L 12-20 399 8 2 26 3 1613 12 12 20 2 2 2/2 - 7 :
Rd08 Canterbury WSS W 26-10 385 6 4 20 2 2001 12 11 22 3 4 5/5 - 8 :
Rd09 Wests-Tig WSS W 18-10 359 5 1 32 7 1872 10 2 22 3 4 1/5 - 6 :
Rd10 Newcastle WSS L 18-20 394 2 4 35 5 1815 12 7 20 1 3 3/3 - 9 :
Rd11 Canberra Bruc L 12-18 393 7 5 28 2 1643 11 6 20 2 2 2/2 - 8 :
Rd12 St Geo-Ill Koga W 32-24 346 4 3 30 5 1887 10 5 22 3 6 4/7 - 5 :
Rd13 Suspended :
Rd14 Suspended :
Rd15 Manly StAu W 56-16 274 1 2 20 8 1953 5 8 26 6 9 10/10 - 12 :
Rd16 Parramatta WSS W 38-0 318 2 5 19 10 2108 8 10 23 6 7 5/7 - 16 :
Rd17 Melbourne StAu L 16-22 323 6 4 25 3 1676 15 9 17 2 2 4/4 - 5 :
Rd18 Wests-Tig WSS W 26-24 347 4 2 19 5 1851 10 6 20 4 4 5/5 - 10 :
Rd19 Canterbury StAu L 16-26 381 4 4 24 7 1922 13 11 15 3 3 2/3 - 10 :
Rd20 Syd Rstrs StAu W 60-8 245 1 1 13 11 2090 10 8 18 10 10 10/12 - 14 :
mPSF Newcastle StAu W 46-20 341 1 2 16 8 1737 11 3 20 5 8 7/9 - 7 :
MSF Parramatta WSS W 38-24 334 3 4 22 8 1860 16 13 18 4 6 7/7 - 15 :
MF Penrith StAu L 16-20 339 2 2 40 3 1602 12 14 26 3 3 2/4 - 4 :
2021 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Grd Tac Pe 6A MT LA LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG 2FG OOL GP: Grd Tac Pe 6A MT LA LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG 2FG OOL
ChSh St Geo-Ill Mudg W 48-16 278 2 2 25 - 10 1790 5 10 21 8 9 6/9 - - 12 :
Rd01 Melbourne MRSt L 18-26 338 3 2 22 3 3 1330 16 10 15 3 3 3/3 - - 4 :
Rd02 Manly Brok W 26-12 364 5 3 17 3 5 1533 13 6 27 2 5 3/6 - - 12 :
Rd03 Syd Rstrs StAu W 26-16 324 1 2 20 4 4 1596 11 7 18 4 4 5/7 - - 11 :
Rd04 Canterbury StAu W 38-0 364 2 6 17 1 3 1975 13 9 19 5 6 7/7 - - 6 :
Rd05 Brisbane StAu W 35-6 323 3 2 23 5 8 2050 8 7 22 5 6 4/7 1 1 13 :
Rd06 Wests-Tig StAu W 18-14 368 5 2 26 3 5 1774 10 6 16 2 3 2/3 - 1 8 GP:
Rd07 Gold Coast Robi W 40-30 299 5 3 46 7 7 1676 4 7 22 5 6 8/9 - - 12 :
Rd08 Canberra Bruc W 34-20 343 1 7 12 5 5 1724 9 8 21 5 5 7/7 - - 10 :
Rd09 Melbourne StAu L 0-50 357 3 2 29 - - 1083 11 4 14 - - - - - 14 :
Rd10 Cronulla LngS W 32-22 313 2 3 36 4 5 1638 10 10 14 4 5 6/6 - - 10 :
Rd11 Penrith Dubb L 12-56 341 12 5 38 1 2 1190 6 10 11 1 2 2/2 - - 10 :
Rd12 Parramatta StAu W 38-20 316 3 3 24 11 12 1698 10 9 18 6 7 5/7 - - 13 :
Rd14 Newcastle StAu W 24-10 354 4 5 16 5 7 1516 16 4 20 4 4 4/4 - - 6 :
Rd15 Brisbane LngS W 46-0 270 1 3 30 9 10 2412 14 20 14 6 8 7/9 - - 14 :
Rd16 Wests-Tig Leic W 38-22 290 3 3 24 9 11 1777 9 5 15 6 7 5/8 - - 12 :
Rd17 Nth Qld NISC W 46-18 287 1 3 22 8 8 1985 8 8 17 6 8 7/10 - - 8 :
Rd18 Canterbury Robi W 32-24 283 3 1 10 6 6 1820 10 8 17 6 6 4/7 - - 7 :
Rd19 Warriors SunS W 60-22 236 2 3 25 11 16 2355 8 11 16 8 11 8/11 - - 9 :
Rd20 St Geo-Ill LngS W 50-14 280 5 3 14 8 13 2056 10 4 17 6 9 7/9 - - 3 :
Rd21 Parramatta Robi W 40-12 327 2 5 16 9 9 1744 5 11 22 6 6 8/9 - - 13 :
Rd22 Gold Coast Robi W 36-6 315 4 8 25 7 8 1945 11 10 18 6 6 6/8 - - 4 :
Rd23 Penrith LngS L 12-25 383 11 - 32 2 3 1409 11 8 21 - 2 2/3 - - 6 :
Rd24 Syd Rstrs LngS W 54-14 273 2 4 19 8 11 2074 8 13 16 7 9 9/10 - - 8 :
Rd25 St Geo-Ill SunS W 20-16 378 3 6 24 1 1 1970 7 9 25 2 4 2/5 - - 4 :
MPSF Penrith NQSt W 16-10 322 5 2 21 4 4 1638 9 9 23 2 2 4/5 - - 8 :
mPF Manly LngS W 36-16 306 1 4 34 4 4 1897 11 11 24 7 7 4/7 - - 5 :
GF Penrith LngS L 12-14 373 2 1 23 3 4 1509 11 7 20 1 2 2/3 - - 6 :
2025 First Grade Statistics : Lower Grade Statistics
Grd Tac Sc Pe 6A MT LA LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG 2FG OOL OSc OPe O6A GP: Grd Tac Sc Pe 6A MT LA LB m Er OL K TA T G/A FG 2FG OOL OSc OPe O6A
Pre02 St Geo-Ill Mudg L 26-46 321 3 6 - 34 5 7 1423 9 5 20 4 5 3/5 - - 9 4 - 2 :
Rd01 Dolphins WSS W 16-14 361 2 5 2 36 2 2 1691 6 9 24 3 3 2/4 - - 8 5 5 1 :
Rd02 St Geo-Ill Woll W 25-24 335 3 3 1 31 3 4 1737 10 1 21 2 4 4/4 1 - 13 4 4 5 :
Rd03 Cronulla Ende L 12-27 371 7 6 2 49 2 4 1354 12 7 19 1 2 2/2 - - 13 4 5 - :
Rd04 Penrith StAu W 28-18 310 5 2 6 37 5 6 1641 10 4 26 4 5 4/6 - - 16 3 6 2 :
Rd05 Syd Rstrs StAu W 20-14 286 6 6 1 40 2 3 1595 7 6 20 3 3 4/4 - - 16 2 11 5 :
Rd06 Nth Qld PrSt L 16-24 364 7 6 2 28 4 4 1547 13 8 20 3 3 2/3 - - 8 6 5 2 :
Rd07 Canterbury StAu L 0-32 418 1 10 4 38 - - 1273 14 4 18 - - - - - 19 1 6 2 :
Rd08 Melbourne MRSt L 16-24 371 3 4 5 48 3 3 1382 11 9 21 2 3 2/3 - - 8 3 6 5 :
Rd09 Newcastle LngS L 4-30 372 8 3 3 49 2 2 1995 11 11 22 1 1 -/1 - - 12 3 3 5 :
Rd10 Brisbane StAu W 22-14 322 1 6 4 29 1 3 1555 11 8 22 1 3 4/4 - 1 13 5 6 3 :
Rd11 Wests-Tig Camp W 22-12 374 4 8 5 38 2 4 1848 9 5 23 3 4 3/4 - - 19 3 3 3 :
Rd13 Warriors StAu L 30-36 346 3 1 4 29 5 5 1541 7 7 21 5 5 5/5 - - 9 2 4 4 :
Rd14 Canberra Bruc L 12-36 422 3 2 5 37 2 3 1468 11 1 24 2 2 2/3 - - 5 1 2 2 :
Suspension Record at South Sydney
Year Grade v Fine Wk CHARGE 2020 Rd13 FG Offield $20,000 2 Breaching Covid Protocol
Coaching Awards
Year Award 2024 - NRL Hall of Fame (Inducted) Inaugural Coaching Inductee
Representative Honours at South Sydney
Domestic CvC / Interstate : Tourists : Other
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
Queensland Origin (2020) 3( 2- 0-1 67%) : :
TOTAL 3( 2- 0-1 67%)
International International : Other
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
Great Britain (2019) 4( 0- 0-4 0%) :
TOTAL 4( 0- 0-4 0%)
ALL REPS 7( 2- 0-5 29%)
Year Team Versus Match Result
2019 Coach Great Britain v Tonga Test Hami L 6-14
2019 Coach Great Britain v New Zealand 1st Test MtSm L 8-12
2019 Coach Great Britain v New Zealand 2nd Test ChCh L 8-23
2019 Coach Great Britain v Papua New Guinea Test PMby L 10-28
2020 Coach Queensland v New South Wales SOO I Adel W 18-14
2020 Coach Queensland v New South Wales SOO II StAu L 34-10
2020 Coach Queensland v New South Wales SOO III LngS W 20-14 (Series Victory)
Coaching News
First Class Coaching Career (1976-2024)
M( W- D-L %)
Total Bris Premiership 170( 86- 3-84 51%)
Total FG Premiership 934(559-14-376 60%) (excludes 4 games on SOO duties or suspended)
Total FG Cup 46( 33- 0-13 72%)
Total FG Club Tour -( 0- 0-0 - )
Total State 28( 14- 1-13 50%)
Total Internationals 38( 25- 1-12 66%)
Total Other Representative 6( 3- 0-3 50%)
TOTAL FIRST CLASS 1222(720-19-501 59%)
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