THE furore over Wayne Bennett’s future at his beloved Brisbane Broncos is the story that keeps on giving.

After the Broncos were busted attempting to secure the services of long-time Melbourne coach and Bennett prodigy Craig Bellamy, the 68-year-old reportedly asked the Brisbane board for a one-year contract extension to take him through until the end of 2020. That request was reportedly denied.

Channel 9 and Triple M rugby league reporter Ben Dobbin said Brisbane CEO Paul White “wasn’t answering any questions” about the club’s decision on Bennett’s future and claimed the famed head coach had been “muzzled” after hearing him speak after the Broncos’ win over the Sharks on Thursday night.

Bennett said the Broncos wouldn’t be talking to the media about their plan for his future until after the football season in October.

“Wayne Bennett won’t be the coach in 2020, make no mistake about that … unless he can win a premiership,” Dobbin said on Thursday night’s edition of The Footy Show.

Bennett reportedly approached the board about a succession plan for when he is no longer head coach, suggesting he remain at the club in some capacity while assistant coach Jason Demetriou takes over the reins. The Broncos are reportedly still mulling that proposal over.

But according to Dobbin, if Brisbane was to move Bennett on it could be a spectacular shot in the foot.

It’s been reported a numbers of players may consider walking away from the club if Bennett is given his marching orders, including a number of big name signings the 68-year-old made this month.

“Wayne Bennett has really done a great job in bringing the next brigade through, make no mistakes about it,” Dobbin said on Triple M. “A comment from a very close source inside the club today said to me that if they moved Wayne on, players would walk.

“Payne Haas signed a four-year deal and the reason he signed for less is because of Bennett, make no mistakes. He’s gone on record and said that.”

There are also rumours off-contract young gun Tevita Pangai Junior is waiting until November for the official call on Bennett before making a decision about a long-term deal at Red Hill.

The 22-year-old star told Dobbin on Thursday night that he was “staying put” for two years.

“‘Wayne won’t let me sign on for any longer (but) I want to,’” Dobbin recited. “‘He says I’ve got a lot more in me and I’m worth a lot of money.’

“That’s a guy who cares about his players. The easy way is to sign Tevita Pangai Junior to a six-year deal like Payne Haas, lock him up and pay him unders at the back end (of the contract), but Wayne says, ‘No, you can get some more’. The players love him.”

GUS APPROACHED IN NRL CRISIS

NRL legend Phil Gould revealed the NRL approached him in an effort to fix up the league after a myriad of refereeing debacles throughout the 2018 season.

A bizarre error from the Bunker in Round 19, which saw the Sharks awarded a controversial try, left NRL CEO Todd Greenberg with the mother of all headaches as he raced to put out the fire.

Gould said he was approached by a high-ranking figure at the NRL, who he refused to name.

“I had someone come to me from the league the other day who’s responsible for all this and he said, ‘What do you think, I’ve got 20 things if I could fix all these up,’” Gould said in his weekly podcast Six Tackles with Gus.

“And I said, ‘First of all how did we get to where we are now? How did those 20 things become an issue? Do you know the history of these things and why these rules were changed or why these interpretations came into being?’

“(He replied) ‘Oh no, not really.’ Well alright, go back and study that and find out about that.”

Gould said there were “too many people trying to manipulate” the game across numerous high-level positions across 16 clubs.

“I don’t think they can articulate (what they’re trying to change),” he said.

The Channel 9 commentator said National Director of Referees Tony Archer made too many changes to “save the referees”, rather than turning the league into a more enjoyable experience for viewers.

“I can see referees doing terrible things and making terrible mistakes that affect results that shouldn’t be affecting them,” Gould said.

“And affecting the sort of football that should be played and I believe that the league has taken the advice of Tony Archer and his role and his philosophy on how the game should be refereed to save the referees, not to promote the game, not to make the game better, not to make the game better for fans or players.

“To save the refs from criticism has been their sole motivation and I think they’ve totally over-coached, over-reviewed, over-analysed.”

SEIBOLD GIVES NOTHING AWAY ON POTENTIAL BRISBANE MOVE

The stars appear to be aligning for Anthony Seibold’s return to Brisbane as an NRL coach but the South Sydney mentor insists he hasn’t been offered or given any thought to a move back to Queensland.

Rockhampton born and bred, Seibold had his first stint as a player at a top- flight club at Brisbane under Wayne Bennett between 1992 and 1995, where he was largely a reserve.

Off-contract at the end of next year, Seibold’s deal expires at the same time as Bennett’s at the Broncos — the club he has been heavily linked with in recent weeks.

Also matching up are the timelines of the negotiations.

Bennett conceded on Thursday night he was comfortable with the Broncos’ board’s decision to delay their decision on his future until October of this year. Seibold has a contract extension on the table at the Rabbitohs but has been insistent that he won’t enter negotiations with the club until the end of the season.

However, he maintains that has nothing to do with the Broncos given he claims there hasn’t been approached from up north.

“The Rabbitohs offered me an extension to my contract, at the time commercially I didn’t think I needed to sign it there and then,” Seibold said. “I’ve got a great working relationship with (South Sydney general manager) Shane Richardson, I didn’t think I needed to go through a negotiation process in the season.

“So really simply putting the team first I thought it was best we revisit it at the end of the season.

“I don’t quite understand the speculation in some ways.

“I do have a feeling where it has come from but I don’t want to talk any further than that.”

— with AAP