Bennett remains hopeful

BRISBANE: Adam Reynolds barely kicked a ball as South Sydney brushed aside Manly 36-16 to break a run of three-straight National Rugby League preliminary final losses and help vindicate Wayne Bennett’s coaching reputation.
After getting the Rabbitohs to a grand final in his third year at the club, Bennett said he hopes Friday’s win helps repay Souths for the faith they showed in him despite claims Brisbane attempted to undermine him for the job three years ago.
In a stunning post-match press conference, the ex-Broncos coach said his former club attempted to sabotage his opportunity to coach Souths, but they hired him anyway.
“I will say publicly, they undermined me in their conversations with Souths,” he said.
“They didn’t do a little job on me, they did the best job they could.
“But to Souths credit, there was some people who had worked with me there before and they were happy to bite the bullet and give me the opportunity.
“I owe Russell Crowe, and hopefully tonight is part of the repayment.”

A premiership would be even better.
Departing halfback Reynolds barely kicked a ball on Friday night but it didn’t matter.
The skipper was clearly hampered with a groin injury that nearly ruled him out of the game.
Fullback Blake Taaffe assumed goal-kicking duties and five-eighth Cody Walker called the shots in general play as Friday night’s Suncorp Stadium rout earned the Rabbitohs a grand final berth.
That pair, along with game-breaking hooker Damien Cook, ensured the No.7 will get a crack at a second premiership before leaving for Brisbane next season. – Yahoo Sports Australia

Rabbitohs want to send Marshall off with premiership

BRISBANE: South Sydney are hoping to send Benji Marshall out on a high note with coach Wayne Bennett suggesting the veteran would be retiring after next Sunday’s grand final.
The Rabbitohs will face Penrith in Sunday’s premiership decider in Brisbane, and it could be the perfect farewell for Marshall who joined the club late in the pre-season for the chance to bow out of the game with a title.
Marshall won the 2005 premiership with the Wests Tigers, and was not offered a new deal by the club at the end of the 2020 season.
He was close to signing with the Bulldogs to play alongside brother Jeremy Marshall-King before making the switch to Bennett’s Rabbitohs.
“The thing I like about Benji is, he rang me up and said ‘My deal’s fallen through — I’d love to come to South Sydney’,” Bennett said after Friday night’s 36-16 win over Manly.
“And I went and saw (fellow playmakers) Adam (Reynolds) and Cody [Walker] because I didn’t want them to think that I was undermining them, and they wanted him to come. So I rang him back and I said, ‘Why do you want to come to South Sydney for?’ And he said, ‘I think you can be in the premiership, I think you can be in the grand final. And I want to go out on a good note’.
“I said ‘OK mate, let’s do that. I’ll make you number 14 every week, that’s my guarantee to you, and he’s been wonderful for us.” – Rabbitohs

Cherry-Evans proud of Manly’s season turnaround

BRISBANE: It didn’t end the way they envisioned, but Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans is “proud” of how his team defied the doubters after a horrendous start to the season.
While the 16-36 preliminary final loss to the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium shattered the Sea Eagles, few predicted they would have been just one game from the decider after a winless opening month.
“Obviously we were written off to be no chance to be even close to this moment today,” Cherry-Evans said after Friday’s defeat.
“So I’m really proud of the group coming together and sticking together and just fighting our way through a season.”
Manly’s bus arrived late to the venue after being stuck in traffic, but coach Des Hasler offered no excuses for the performance. He conceded that South Sydney were simply “too good”.
“We probably didn’t do ourselves any favours in that first half,” Hasler said.
“We afforded them too much field position and they capitalised on that.” Hasler admitted it was a “missed opportunity.”
He highlighted two correctly disallowed tries in the first half — one for obstruction and the other for a Tom Trbojevic knock-on — as turning points.
“We probably needed one of those to fall our way,” he said before clarifying that he was satisfied with the obstruction call.
“That didn’t eventuate and I think they were both 12-point turnarounds.
“You’ve got to manage these games.
“They’re big-moment games and we probably didn’t manage it as well as what we’ve should have.
“Once you get that imbalance, you start to fatigue a little bit. I think South Sydney just got out of their own end and got down our end too easily.”
Overall, Manly’s campaign was filled with highlights, none greater than Tom Trbojevic’s personal achievements.
The development of talented youngsters like second-rowers Josh Schuster and Haumole Olakau’atu also planted the seeds for the future.
“It’s been a great development platform, that’s for sure, and we’ll harness that going forward,” said Hasler, who also pointed out Reuben Garrick being the season’s top point-scorer. – NRL