England coach Wayne Bennett refusing to attend coaching sessions he arranged

[josie andrews]

WAYNE BENNETT has copped plenty of flak for organising England training sessions that he’ll never attend.

The England coach doesn’t even make any excuses for refusing to come back to England to see his players in this World Cup year.

He even seemed to find it quite incredulous last month, when he was over for the World Club Series, that people would imagine he should.

The thing with Bennett is he doesn’t care what people think of him - and that is now evident again in Australia.

There are growing murmurings Down Under that the sport’s greatest coach might just be losing his touch.

His NRL club’s shock loss to Warrington last month didn’t impress Brisbane Broncos fans, even though it was effectively a warm-up game for them.

And there are reports that the 67-year-old seven-time Grand Final-winning coach is starting to lose player support.

Bennett’s reaction, however, to suggestions that his aura is waning was typical, saying: “I have been looking for it.

“(Skipper) Darius Boyd lost his suit last week - I asked him if he could find it in his suit for me. I don’t know where it has gone.”

The knives are clearly being sharpened in the NRL, with their season only kicking off today, but let’s hope things don’t implode too quickly.

After last year’s flop in the Four Nations, we need Bennett to find his magic more than ever in this autumn’s World Cup.

The Super League stars at England’s training camp in Rochdale on Monday were clearly conscious of Bennett’s influence even if he wasn’t there.

Assistants Paul Anderson and Paul Sculthorpe will be running the six scheduled camps but Bennett is heavily involved behind the scenes.

Reports that he’s “withering on the coaching vine” might be strong in Australia but for England’s sake we need them to be wrong.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/rugby- ... g-sessions