Dolphins' head coach Wayne Bennett has all but confirmed he will be heading to the South Sydney Rabbitohs from the start of 2025.
It's understood the Rabbitohs and Bennett are meeting today (Monday) after the conclusion of Magic Round to confirm the details around a deal that will see Bennett move back to South Sydney for a second stint at the club.
It means he takes over from the man who originally took over from him in Jason Demetriou, who was sacked earlier almost a month ago by the embattled club who sit at the bottom of the competition table with just a single victory from their first ten games.
Bennett, who had just overseen his Dolphins' side get the better of the Wests Tigers in the final game of Magic Round, confirmed nothing would be leaked because he is signing his own deal, and that the outside talk of his move back to Redfern was not a distraction.
โI don't have to worry about managers leaking stuff to you, do I? When you do your own deal. It's good," Bennett said after the game.
โEverybody knew I was finishing at Redcliffe at the end of the season. Three years ago we all knew that when I made the decision [to coach the Dolphins].โ
Bennett then replied point blank to a question about his future being sorted this week by saying "I'll do that for you."
It would appear that with the deal imminent, Bennett will turn down any play by the NRL to have him head up the NRL's next expansion side, expected to be announced next month.
It also means South Sydney have got their man, with the club desperate to have Bennett return after his first stint at the club failed to deliver a premiership.
South Sydney are well aware they will have to rejig their roster in the coming months, but Bennett said he would not target any youngsters at the Dolphins to take with him unless he was unwanted.
โI won't be taking any of their kids that they [the Dolphins] want to keep. That's not going to happen. I didn't set about building this club to try and destroy it. That's just not going to happen, okay?" he said.
โBut if there's a guy there that they're not offering a contract to or he's looking to go somewhere else and I think he can play a bit, that'll be a different thing.
โI want all of his (new Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf's) players to stay there.โ
He also confirmed he wants Ben Hornby to remain at the club next year as part of his staff, with the former St George Illawarra Dragon now serving as the interim coach at Maroubra.
Hornby played under Bennett when the super coach guided the Dragons to the 2010 premiership.
A deal being confirmed as per expectations will see Bennett take over the Rabbitohs from 2025 through to the end of 2027.
