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'Poor form': Andrew Johns rips Wayne Bennett over 'awful' farce

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·4-min read
Andrews Johns, pictured here taking aim at Wayne Bennett.
Andrews Johns has taken aim at Wayne Bennett. Image: Getty/Channel Nine

Andrew Johns has taken aim at Wayne Bennett in a stunning live TV spray, furious over reports the master-coach met with Kalyn Ponga in Sydney on Saturday.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Bennett - coach of new Queensland team the Dolphins - and other officials had flown to Sydney on Saturday to meet with Newcastle star Ponga about his future.

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The Newcastle fullback is contracted to the Knights until the end of 2024.

However the final two years of his deal are an option in the player's favour.

Ponga therefore looms as the biggest remaining name potentially available on the transfer market for next year.

He would be a massive coup for a Dolphins club struggling to sign big names for their inaugural season.

But Johns, who holds a role as a Knights consultant along with being an all-time great at the club, is unimpressed by any mid-season approaches from Bennett.

"It affects them (as players)," Johns said on Nine's Sunday Footy Show.

"I just think it's poor form if Wayne flew down to Newcastle to meet with a player, while they are playing that season.

"Kalyn's carrying a knee injury so you saw he was limited (in a poor showing against Cronulla on Friday night).

"But it would definitely have been a distraction."

Kalyn Ponga, pictured here looking on after a Sharks try against Newcastle.
Kalyn Ponga looks on after a Sharks try against Newcastle. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Johns compared the situation to that involving Justin Hodges at Brisbane in 2001, when Bennett dropped him to reserve grade when he signed with the Roosters for the next year.

"He put him on show in front of the team and sacked him and he played reserve grade all year," Johns said of his former Kangaroos coach.

"It's different when it goes the other way.

"I just think it's poor form to fly to someone's home town while they're still playing, to try to get them to go to their club next next year."

NRL's transfer system again under scrutiny

The Ponga situation has again raised question marks around the NRL's transfer system after a summer of big-name players signing for rivals more than a year out.

The likes of Viliame Kikau, Brandon Smith, Isaiah Papali'i, Reed Mahoney and Apisai Koroisau all entered the current season having already secured a deal elsewhere for 2023.

"It's just ridiculous," NSW State of Origin coach Brad Fittler said.

"It's an awful, awful look for the game ... it's so negative and you're going to lose fans.

"We just need a bracket at the end of the year where you do all your trading, that's it."

The issue is expected to be a key component of collective bargaining agreement talks this year with the NRL wanting trade windows and the players' union opposed.

Their greatest fears remain what impact injuries can have on off-contract players' financial wellbeing as well as greater planning for families in terms of moves.

Standardised welfare and education will likely be front and centre of this year's negotiations with a feeling the NRL need to offer enough to have the players change their stance.

with AAP

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