Wayne Bennett steps down as Queensland coach

Drew Darbyshire

Wayne Bennett has stepped down from his role as Queensland’s State of Origin coach.

Bennett guided the Maroons to a series win in the Origin arena last year but has now relinquished his role so he can put all his focus into South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 2021 NRL season.

QRL managing director Robert Moore said: “We were really grateful that Wayne made himself available to help us out last year.

“He was the perfect fit for the role with the players we had and the situation we were in – together with his assistants Neil Henry and Mal Meninga, it was an outstanding coaching set up that laid the foundations for one of our state’s greatest series wins.

“We understand the decision Wayne has made in his last year of his contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, as he’s eager to concentrate his efforts on them because they’ve been so close (to a premiership).

“With Wayne’s decision, we’ve now moved to a process to consider the next appointment and we anticipate that process will be completed early this year.”

NRL Queensland