Dolphins CEO fires back at "offensive" Bennett criticism

Dolphins CEO Terry Reader has responded to critics of coach Wayne Bennett, saying any belief their slide out of the top eight was because of the supercoach signing with South Sydney was “offensive” and “unfair”.

Bennett has come under fire in recent weeks with the Dolphins winning just three from their past 12 games, sitting in 10th spot and in danger of having their finals chances ended at the hands of local rivals, the Brisbane Broncos this Saturday.

Appearing on Fox League’s NRL 360, The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield said Bennett’s fingerprints were “all over” what’s been happening at the Rabbitohs.

“I defy anyone in rugby league, whether you’ve won six or seven premierships, whether you’re a supercoach, to hold down two jobs at once,” he said.

“If you’re a figurehead of a rugby league club, if you are going elsewhere next year, you just can’t do it.

“It just doesn’t happen in any working environment … The bottom line is in no workplace can you have two jobs.”

But Reader fired back and stood up for the man, who has led the Dolphins in their first two years since joining the NRL.

“I think anyone who has ever met Wayne or worked with Wayne, to think he’s not invested in what’s going on here is actually offensive,” Reader said on SENQ Mornings.

“He’ll leave a legacy here as our inaugural coach and if you don’t think he wants to play finals and finish the season off with the Dolphins… Wayne’s a winner, he’s all in on what’s happening.

“We’re only two years old, so I think that criticism is a bit unfair on Wayne.”

Reader instead looked at the injuries the team has suffered this season as a main factor behind their recent form.

“We’ve had a tough couple of months, losing Jeremy Marshall-King he’s probably been our most influential player, we haven’t had him, people forget Euan (Aitken) we lost as well six weeks ago, they are really integral parts of our team,” he said.

“Let’s not forget we haven’t had (Tom) Flegler and Tommy Gilbert for the whole year.

“As you get to the back end of the year with injuries, things catch up, same thing happened to us last year, we’ll strengthen our squad again next year.

“We’ve still got two games to go, the biggest in club rugby league this Saturday and I’m sure Wayne will be doing his best to make sure we put a team on the field that’ll be competitive but also to do our club proud.”

The Dolphins host the Broncos on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium with both team’s seasons on the line.