Wayne Bennett has said that wholesale changes are not required to take England to the next level and believes his predecessor, Steve McNamara, has left the team in a healthy state.
Bennett, who was confirmed by the Rugby Football League this month as McNamara’s successor as coach on a two-year deal, said a dramatic overhaul is not on his agenda – underlined by the Australian’s decision to keep the Wigan forward, Sean O’Loughlin, as the England captain, a role he has held since 2014.
Bennett believes England’s myriad of failures is a result of decades of poor decisions by the game’s hierarchy, but insists that those days have come to an end. “I’m not really surprised England haven’t won a major tournament for so long; they’ve probably had the wrong people in charge at different stages along the way and made a lot of poor decisions,” said Bennett, who is combining being national coach with his role as full-time coach of the Brisbane Broncos. “The best organisations are the ones that have got stability and I think they’re in that position now.
“Steve has done a good job over the last few years, he’s got a much more stable playing group and a group who want to play for their country. You were picking 33 and 34-year-olds in the past and hoping they could resurrect their careers in one game but it just doesn’t work like that. Steve recognised that and there’s a strong group of players there who do want to play for this country. There’s some talent in the group, some real talent.”
Bennett said of O’Loughlin: “I’ve given some thought to who will captain the team, and that won’t change – why should it? Sean is a good leader who’s highly regarded in Australia by everyone, and the feedback on him has been outstanding from people I’ve spoken to, so there’s no cause to change it. I haven’t come here to change things that worked in the past, believe me.”
The 66-year-old confirmed that, as expected, the majority of his backroom staff will be based in England – including his assistant coach, whose identity is yet to be confirmed. Bennett said: “I’m going to bring two staff with me; one is an Englishman [Jeremy Hickmans, who has worked with Bennett at Brisbane], so he fits the criteria and he knows what I want. The rest will all be English-based who have either previously been involved or are new to the setup. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here.”
Despite being a full-time club coach in the NRL – the Broncos face Wigan in the World Club Series on Saturday – Bennett envisages coming to the United Kingdom at least once this year to arrange a get-together with the England group, something that was commonplace during McNamara’s six-year reign as the England coach.
“I’ve got three bye weeks coming up throughout the NRL season with Brisbane and in one of those I’ll come to the UK and spend a week or so with the group,” Bennett revealed. “There will be some get-togethers, but that’s all you can do. Club competitions are so dominant, so you can’t have getaway camps or anything like that, so you can only do what you can. I do think we’ll be playing France before the Four Nations this year, though.”
Bennett, a three-times Australian national coach and a consultant for the New Zealand side during their 2008 World Cup-winning campaign, also revealed he came close to returning to international rugby league before taking on the England job. He said: “I nearly took the France job in the last World Cup [2013], and if I’d spoken French I probably would have – but I couldn’t have coached a team who I couldn’t communicate with.
“I’m coming to the end of my career and it’s probably the last World Cup I’ll ever do, so to do it with a country who I’ve always had a lot of time for with some good playing staff and a good organisation is a good challenge for me.”
Five dilemmas Wayne Bennett must tackle as England coach
1 Where does Sam Burgess play?
England’s strength in the pack is already impressive, and Bennett has the exciting prospect of trying to fit Sam Burgess in somewhere following his return from an indifferent spell in rugby union. Burgess can play anywhere in the pack, which will undoubtedly give England another dimension for this year’s Four Nations.
2 Sam Tomkins or Zak Hardaker at full-back?
Injury to Sam Tomkins before last year’s New Zealand Test series gave Zak Hardaker the chance to lay a marker down at full-back, and the Leeds man certainly impressed. With Tomkins shortly back to full fitness and back in Super League with Wigan, Bennett has an intriguing battle to watch out for between the two No1s.
3 His wealth of riches at hooker
In Steve McNamara’s final games in charge of England he opted for a hooking tandem of Josh Hodgson and James Roby. However, Bennett will have the luxury of picking from not only those two, but others on the periphery such as the Warrington hooker Daryl Clark, Wigan’s Michael McIlorum and even Hull’s Danny Houghton.
4 Who will be his assistant coach?
With Bennett working full-time on the other side of the world, his choice as assistant coach for the next two years will be crucial. Bennett could opt for a whole host of talented English coaches, but the highly-regarded Castleford coach, Daryl Powell, could be a smart option.
5 The half-back quandary
McNamara chopped and changed his half-backs throughout his final two years in charge, and Bennett will look for a settled pair before a crucial two years for the national side. He has experienced halves in the shape of Wigan’s Matty Smith, for example – but younger options such as George Williams and Luke Gale are also available and highly thought of.
