october 2 2013 www.newcastlepost.com.au
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All hail Benny
T
hey say you should never question a champion. Knights coach Wayne Bennett this year proved why. The seven-time premiership winning coach was brought to Newcastle by Nathan Tinkler to bring premiership glory that has evaded the Hunter since 2001, and while the club’s 2013 season ended a week short of the Grand Final, there is little doubt that Bennett has now stamped his mark on a side that is destined for greater things next season. In short, he has answered his critics in emphatic fashion. After missing the finals in 2012 - his first year in charge of the Knights - Bennett was questioned left, right and centre about whether he had the hunger, passion or ability to turn things around for a club so desperate to again sit atop of the rugby league world. In 2013, he proved why champions should never be written off - taking a side older than most through the arduous highs and lows of the NRL season, and all the way to the Preliminary Final against the Roosters last weekend. And he did it in typical Bennett fashion - playing his cards close to his chest, flying under the radar and, not surprisingly, saying very little along the way. While Bennett’s dream of an eighth title disappeared when inspirational skipper Danny Buderus was stretchered off Allianz Stadium last weekend, he ends the season knowing that 2014 holds plenty of promise and believing that 2013 should be considered a success.
“Overall I am really pleased,” Bennett said. “I know how disappointed I was last year, so to finish in the top four is a start for us and hopefully it gives confidence and more belief when we start the season next year.” The fans clearly believe, too - the chant and passion coming from the stands even when the result was obvious last Saturday night was deafening, and an inspiration. Playmaker Jarrod Mullen said the feeling of losing to the Roosters last weekend hurts, but he knows they’ll be back next year bigger and better. “The character we have showed in this finals series has been tremendous,” he said. “To get so close, one game before a grand final, it definitely hurts a lot more than losing in week one.” Perhaps it is that pain that will drive the Knights during the pre-season ahead. Newcastle’s two premierships have been built on courage and determination - and defying the odds. There’s a feeling emerging in Newcastle that what happened in 2013 is only the entree for what will be a stellar main course in 2014. The age of the squad, the betting odds and predictions of the experts will again dominate the pre-season. But when there’s a champion like Wayne Bennett at the helm, it is very difficult to shake the fact that something special is building in this sports-mad town. Today, the Post looks back at the season that was, with one eye firmly on the future, in this special coverage of the Newcastle Knights’ 2013 campaign.