Wayne Bennett has hit back at criticism of how he handles his media duties as the England coach, sending a subtle message to his players before Sunday’s must-win Four Nations match with Australia by saying that “talk is cheap”.
Bennett has repeatedly come under fire for the way he works with the media since arriving to take charge of England, with the situation escalating further last Saturday when he was labelled a “disgrace” by the former Salford and Wales coach, Iestyn Harris, for his post-match interview with the BBC following England’s victory against Scotland.
But the 66-year-old insisted the best way to promote rugby league in this country is by winning, not by being media savvy.
“I’ll tell you about promoting rugby league,” he said. “You can talk to any marketing department and they don’t want you to be goofing off and talking it up when your team’s getting beat every week. My players and my teams are my priority and always will be. I’m not interested in talk; talk is cheap and I’m not interested in thinking I can promote the game by something I say. I started coaching in 1977 and they were bagging me then, and nothing’s changed in 2016.”
Most of the focus leading into the game at the London Stadium has been on Bennett and Mal Meninga, after the Kangaroos coach said Bennett attempted to undermine his position and that he wanted Meninga’s job before accepting the offer from the RFL at the start of this year.
Bennett attempted to defuse the situation on Wednesday and put the spotlight back on his players. “I haven’t read anything so it doesn’t worry me,” he said. “I saw him yesterday and spent some time with him. I didn’t undermine him but if that’s what he believes, that’s his prerogative.”
England have not beaten Australia for more than 20 years and Bennett remained coy when asked whether his players possess the belief to get one over the world champions. “That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. There’s lots of fallacies in what we do and that’s a fallacy – how do you tell if someone has self-belief? They could talk tough and look tough but not play tough.”
Bennett also confirmed the vice-captain, James Graham, will be fit having missed the game against Scotland with a knee problem. “He’ll be playing,” he said. “He trained this morning and he’s good. It’s important to have him back: he brings a lot.”
