Rugby League Coaching Manuals

By Brad Walter, SMH - Dragons coach Wayne Bennett has warned his players he will not support them if they attempt to fight fire with fire and engage in grapple tackles or other illegal wrestling manoeuvres during tonight's season opening match against Melbourne at Olympic Park.

The previous clash between the clubs, who have established a bitter rivalry since St George Illawarra's controversial defeat by the Storm in the 1999 grand final, was considered a turning point in Melbourne's demise last season after Dragons players took matters into their own hands and other teams followed suit.

However, the Dragons have been put on notice during the pre-season about their own tackling habits, and Bennett - a fierce opponent of the growing influence of wrestling in the game - has told them they will have to accept whatever penalties come their way if they continue to infringe.

"We haven't been perfect either. We've had a couple of issues there, but my players understand my position on it - so if they do what is against the rules and spirit of the game, then I'm not going to stick up for them," Bennett said.

"I won't stick up for my players in regards to the things they know the league is trying to eliminate. They know I don't coach it, they know it's not been taught here and know my position on it. I don't want to them to be stupid and do silly things. If they get penalised in the game or find themselves before the judiciary and they deserve to be there, then I will accept the guilty plea and the punishment that goes with it."

Despite the introduction of two referees, Bennett said he had been surprised by the amount of wrestling and grapple-type tackles in trial matches this season and was concerned that the extra pair of eyes policing the ruck had not eradicated the ploy.

But after NRL chief executive David Gallop vowed to rid the game of such tactics, Bennett called for match officials to maintain their vigilance or risk more on-field violence from players retaliating after being caught in illegal holds.

"The league has assured us that the grapple has gone. I have got to believe in our chief executive," Bennett said. "I saw him publicly come out and talk about it so I've got to believe the people he has appointed to make the decisions are capable of doing that.

"If he doesn't, then he is going to have the problem he had last year towards the end of the season, and players will take it into their own hands. Certainly, the players have shown that they're prepared to do that. David has come out and made all the statements, and his officials have now got to back him up."

Bennett did not want to comment on the latest off-field dramas to have engulfed the game this week, but he is known to have strong views on how the NRL should handle the situation, and spoke to Gallop last year about the formation of a special tribunal to deal with cases such as those involving Manly's Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough.

Asked if he was "pissed off" that the indiscretions of a few players had taken the spotlight away from tonight's eagerly awaited clash between the Dragons and the Storm, Bennett noted that last season had ended the same way, with sexual assault allegations against three of his Broncos players and Melbourne captain Cam Smith being suspended because of a grapple tackle.

"It's a bit like the grand final, wasn't it … the end of the season should have been magnificent, and it was a week and a half of controversy, or two weeks, and we were a part of it at the Broncos," he said.

"Everyone looks forward to the start of the season and then, all of a sudden, the focus is taken away. But we can't do anything about that now."

After impressive trial wins over the Sydney Roosters and the Bulldogs, the Dragons were disappointing in their Charity Shield loss to South Sydney. However, Bennett insisted he was unconcerned.

"We didn't go into that game with the intention of necessarily trying to win - we went into it with a plan for what we're going to play against tomorrow night," he said.

"South Sydney, outside Melbourne, are probably the best wrestling team in the competition. It was a great test for us going into this game here.

"Melbourne have been in the last three grand finals, won a premiership in that time … they are still a very good football team with a good coaching staff, so we're aware of what we're going into."