Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has revealed he had “no confidence” Cameron Munster would eventually sign with the NRL’s newest franchise and has criticized the Storm superstar for not informing him personally of his decision.
The 28-year-old turned down the Dolphins’ four-year, $5.6 million offer to re-sign with the Storm on a four-year, $4 million deal.
As it stands, the Dolphins are yet to sign a breakout player after missing out on an extensive roster of superstars including Harry Grant, Jahrome Hughes, Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga.
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While Bennett himself was resigned to Munster not moving north, the super-coach lamented the Maroons’ gun to avoid the “tough phone call”.
“It’s pretty normal stuff mate, it’s pretty normal stuff, that’s the part, I understand the managers and all that, and there’s a need,” Bennett told Triple M Primetime with Leisel Jones, Liam and Dobbo.
“But what I can’t get and what I don’t relate to is the fact that the players, in all the hard conversations that have to be had, are missing.
“They don’t call you and say they’re not coming, they don’t have to make that phone call, that’s a hard phone call, it’s a phone call that none of us want to make but you want to be a man, you have to act like one .
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“Don’t let your manager call and tell them you’re not coming.”
Bennett, who has won seven premierships as a coach, compared the situation to his own experiences as a child when he would have his mother call his friends for him.
“I think they miss a very important phase of learning in their life, how to say no and how to say no by saying no, decently,” Bennett said.
“Not having someone else go ‘here I’ll send you a message.’
“I remember making my mom call my little friend when I wanted to go to soccer… I didn’t have the courage to call and ask him if I could go, he’d take my mom and he hated me for it .
“I taught myself not to ask my mother anymore because I knew that I should have been doing it, if I was the one who wanted to go.
“It’s hard to tell someone you won’t come when there’s a lot of effort involved, but that’s the price you have to pay so you can become the man you can be proud of.”
Bennett revealed he was confident of recruiting Munster when talks began, but as negotiations “drew on”, he knew the Melbourne gun would re-sign.
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Bennett and Munster worked together during the Maroons’ Origin series win in 2020, but it wasn’t enough to quell Craig Bellamy’s final season in charge.
While Dolphins fans were desperate to acquire a breakout star, Bennett is still staying calm and will wait for the right player before handing out a lucrative contract.
“What he’s done is he’s left us a lot of money in the salary cap to go out and buy quality players, and we’re not going to spend that money until we get that player,” Bennett said.
“The opportunity has gone there, we will go elsewhere and look for that player we know we need and most importantly not waste the money.
“I’ll play one less next year to make sure we have the right player for 2024, I’m not going to go out and spend that money now on someone we don’t think can deliver what we need.”
The NRL has been consistently criticized for its handling of the introduction of the new franchise.
Experts believe the Dolphins are at a huge disadvantage to their rivals and should have been granted extra time or exempt from recruiting rules in order to build a contending roster.
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Bennett clearly agrees, but knows the competition’s 16 other clubs are not welcoming a new rival.
“The NRL did the right thing by creating a number 17 team, we all knew what the rules were, if we didn’t like the rules we didn’t have to apply to be admitted to the competition,” Bennett said.
“The other 16 teams don’t want you, it’s clear, they don’t want you because it’s about their possession, their bit of turf, and a 17th team is a disadvantage because they’ll lose a few more. players
“What the game has never done is support a new team coming in, in terms of recruitment or whatever.
“Broncos, Gold Coast, when they first came in, Newcastle, they’ve never been supported by the game with players.
“Honestly, I think the game should be, like the AFL does, when the two new teams came in, Western Sydney and Gold Coast, each club had to give up a player or two to make it more viable.
“It’s never happened in our game, it’s not going to happen now, but we make new rules, we just get on with life and we’re going to do everything we can to prove them wrong.”