After missing out on his marquee target Cameron Munster, Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has also taken aim at the NRL for a perceived lack of support not just for the NRL's newest franchise, but for a number of teams who've joined the competition in the recent past.
Though Bennett was clearly disappointed to have missed out on Munster โ a feeling compounded by the fact that Munster never reached out to inform him of the decision โ he also suggested the club had not been well supported by the administration as it heads towards its competition debut in 2023.
Bennett pointed to other franchises that have experienced hardship on their entry to the competition, including Brisbane, who he coached in their inaugural season.
โThe NRL did the right thing by creating the 17th team. We all knew what the rules were, if we didn't like the rules we didn't have to make an application to be admitted to the competition,โ Bennett told Triple M.
โThe other 16 teams don't want you, that's clear. They don't want you because they care about their possession, their little bit of turf, and a 17th team is an inconvenience because they're going to lose a few more players.
โWhat the game has never done is supported a new team coming in, in terms of recruitment or whatever.
โThe Broncos, Gold Coast when they first came in, Newcastle, a whole lot have never been supported by the game with players.
โI honestly believe the game should, as the AFL (did) when two new teams came in โ Western Sydney and Gold Coast โ each club had to give up one or two players to make it more viable.
โIt has never happened in our game, it's not going to happen now, but we knew the rules. We just get on with life and we're going to do our best to prove them all wrong.โ
