Wayne Bennett (rugby league)

Wayne Bennett

Bennett in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Wayne James Bennett
Nickname	Benny
Born	(1950-01-01) 1 January 1950 (age 67) Allora, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1969–70 Warwick  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1971–72 All Whites  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1972–73 Huddersfield  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1974–75 Brothers (Bris.)  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? –1976 Ipswich  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1977–79 Souths (Bris.)  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Total Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 19??–?? Toowoomba  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 1971–73 Queensland 7  ?  ?  ?  ? 1971–72 Australia 0 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1976 Ipswich 1977–79 Souths (Bris.) 1980–82 Brothers (Bris.) 1984–85 Souths (Bris.) 1987 Canberra Raiders 28 17 0 11 61 1988–08 Brisbane Broncos 532 339 12 181 64 2009–11 St. George Illawarra 79 51 1 27 65 2012–14 Newcastle Knights 75 34 1 40 45 2015– Brisbane Broncos 59 38 0 21 64 Total 773 479 14 280 62 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1986–88 Queensland 9 5 0 4 56 1998 Australia 2 2 0 0 100 1998 Queensland 3 2 0 1 67 2001–03 Queensland 9 5 0 4 56 2004–05 Australia 14 10 1 3 71 2010–16 NRL All Stars 5 2 0 3 40 2016 England 4 2 0 2 50
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Wayne James Bennett AM (born 1 January 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player who is the current head coach of the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League (NRL). In 2016, he became the first foreigner to be appointed head coach of the England national side. An Australian international and Queensland interstate representative winger or fullback of the 1970s, Bennett also worked as a Queensland Police officer before becoming a Brisbane Rugby League premiership-winning coach, and in the 1980s earned selection as Queensland's State of Origin coach. After starting his NSWRL Premiership coaching career with the Canberra Raiders, in 1988 Bennett was appointed the inaugural coach of the new Brisbane Broncos club, later winning six premierships with them, and in 1998 was first selected to coach the Australian national team. He has since coached the St. George Illawarra Dragons (with whom he won the 2010 NRL Premiership) and the Newcastle Knights, and set Australian coaching records for most grand final wins (7) and most seasons with a single club (21).

Born in the small township of Allora, Queensland, Wayne Bennett grew up in a working-class family in nearby Warwick with an alcoholic father who deserted the family when he was eleven years old, forcing Wayne to enter the workforce at an early age. He has two sisters, Michelle and Gretta and two brothers, Robert and Dwight. In spite of his upbringing he remains an avowed non-smoker, non-drinker and non-gambler. Before becoming involved with the Queensland Rugby League on a full-time basis, Bennett started to work as a police officer at the age of 15 while playing junior rugby league in Warwick. His family already had ties to the Police and rugby league in South East Queensland through his uncle, 1948 Kangaroo forward Eddie Brosnan.