Croker: Inside story on how Bennett lures the biggest names

NRL veteran Jarrod Croker has opened up about the Wayne Bennett-aura that makes the game’s best talent leave everything to play for the master-coach.

As the dust settles from Payne Haas’s bombshell signing with the Rabbitohs, rumours around why Haas sought an exit from the Broncos swirled.

Money, a fallout with Michael Maguire, and better avenues to R360 were all floated, but as Haas’s manager Ahmad Merhi, revealed, the real reason was a desire to be coached by Bennett at the Rabbitohs.

It’s not the first time Bennett has landed an era-defining signing, luring Latrell Mitchell to the Rabbitohs back in 2020, Glenn Lazarus to the Broncos from the Raiders back in 1992, and Darius Boyd to several clubs under his tenure.

It begs the question, what is this mystic ability the game’s most-capped coach has that allows him to attract the biggest names to his club

Croker, who was coached by Wayne Bennett back in NRL All Stars camp in 2016, believes it was Bennett’s ability to connect with players on a human level that has made him so successful with the biggest names.

“It's hard to explain what it is,” Croker said on SENQ Sportsday.“He's just got a way with people… he doesn't teach people how to play football now.

“He's 76 years old and he's seen a lot of football, but he's not going to make Payne Haas a better footballer, I don't believe.

“As in on field, skill-wise, he's not going to make him a better footballer, but he's going to make him the best person he can be to play the best football he can.

“That's what I think he gets out of people, and that's what he needs to get out of Latrell (Mitchell).

“You've seen glimpses of it with Latrell… and it's the same with most of that South Sydney side, but they've got so many characters in that side who can all play football with the best of them, but you need to get them right to play their best football.

“Your Cody Walker’s, Jacko’s, Latrell, David Fifita, Brandon Smith… you get them right off the field and get them in a mindset where they know what they're doing on a footy field (and) they're nearly unstoppable.

“That's what Wayne Bennett does, he's not going to go down there and teach them how to catch a pass again or to kick a footy.

“That's a part of the reason I believe that Wayne's so good at what he does.”

Haas will join the Rabbitohs and Bennett on a three-year deal starting in 2027.

The Broncos had been vocal about attempting to get Haas to backflip on his deal with a “mega-extension”, but have decided against it after how public the story had become.

The club’s efforts would have also been in vain, with Haas’s manager confirming that his client had shaken the hand of Wayne Bennett, leaving no world for a backflip.

“He’s not dissatisfied [at Brisbane], it’s all about growth for him. Wayne Bennett was the key factor,” Merhi told Sydney Morning Herald.

“The principal reason is Wayne Bennett. Wayne started his career, Wayne has remained a presence during his career and that relationship hasn’t stopped regardless of where Wayne has gone.

“I was pretty surprised by that relationship when Payne was explaining it to me, so I personally took some time out to meet Wayne and understand who he is. I met with him on two occasions, spent a couple of hours with him and then understood who he was and the pull he has with players wanting to play with him.”