Wayne Bennett hits back after Gorden Tallis rips NRL legend over Hall of Fame absence

Wayne Bennett has addressed the backlash to his shock no-show at the NRL’s Hall of Fame dinner on Wednesday night after league great Gorden Tallis described the snub as a disrespectful move by the veteran coach. Bennett has often shied away from gala dinners and declined the invitation to attend the awards night, where he was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame and Ron Coote was bestowed the honour of being named the game's 14th Immortal.

Bennett became the first coach - alongside Jack Gibson - to be included in the NRL Hall of Fame. But after a late withdrawal, Bennett's former player, assistant and current Warrington Wolves coach Sam Burgess accepted the honour on the veteran coach's behalf after flying over from England to attend the gala event at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Burgess was also inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside a number of other modern greats including Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston.

But it was Bennett's no-show that sparked plenty of debate, with Tallis telling the panel on NRL 360 that the master coach should have shown more “respect for the game” by attending. “I’m a little bit disappointed for the game, because I’ve been to so many Broncos presentations and when Wayne talks it’s so beautiful about the game and I know what it means to him,” Tallis said.

“When you’ve got Sam flying out from England, who’s made a rushed trip, and I jump on a plane every week for work and I know it can be a pain in the bottom when you’re coaching, but the respect for the game is Wayne coming in and grabbing that jacket, because I know how much he loves the game and what the game’s meant to him. I’m a little bit disappointed for Wayne not talking and getting up there and getting a jacket in front of all those people.”

Wayne Bennett explains Hall of Fame no-show

However, Bennett has broken his silence on why he didn't fly down from Queensland to receive his Hall of Fame honour. The notoriously private 74-year-old cited "personal reasons" for his no-show but declined to go into further details. Bennett told News Corp he does not like attending public events and that he was "not concerned about the backlash" around his awards night snub.

“I just couldn’t get there. Simple as that,” Bennett told News Corp. “I’m not going into details, I’m just telling you I didn’t go, that’s it. I want to make it clear I wasn’t being disrespectful... The critics will all have their say, mate, but nobody knows the reason I didn’t go, OK? There were personal reasons. I’m not concerned about the backlash I will cop.”

Burgess cracked up the 250 guests that attended Wednesday night's gala event after being told on stage he'd have to speak on Bennett's behalf and responding: “I won’t have to say much then." But taking a more serious note, Burgess thanked Bennett for still mentoring him as he navigates the next part of his rugby league career as a coach.

"He has got a bit on, Wayne, it's probably not his style. I think the majority of the people in this room will have been touched by Wayne in some way or another whether it be as a friend, for advice or as a coach. He has influenced so many people in our game. I was one of those people, he was so influential to me. Still is now as a new coach. We are all so grateful."

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Bennett has coached 935 premiership games and won seven titles along the way. He has also won five State of Origin series with Queensland and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen. Bennett has also been part of previous Immortals judging panels but was curiously left off the 14-person judging committee this year, alongside the the only three living Immortals Andrew Johns, Mal Meninga and Wally Lewis.

However, Bennett hailed the selection of Coote as the game's 14th Immortal and said the legendary Souths and Eastern Suburbs player "sums up everything great about rugby league". Coote was a rangy lock forward who won four premierships with Souths between 1967 and 1971, before shifting to Eastern Suburbs in a hugely controversial move and winnings two more titles in 1974 and 1975. He was man of the match in the 1971 grand final, and is one of only five players in Australian rugby league history to have played in nine grand finals.

with agencies