{"id":455725,"date":"2025-07-07T20:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T20:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=455725"},"modified":"2025-07-07T23:16:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T23:16:27","slug":"gus-backs-bennett-as-kangaroos-crunch-meeting-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=455725","title":{"rendered":"Gus backs Bennett as Kangaroos crunch meeting looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phil Gould has backed Wayne Bennett<\/a> to return to the Kangaroos<\/a> coach role as the Australian Rugby League Commission mulls over its Mal Meninga replacement.<\/p>\n

\ufeffUnder the current rules set by the commission, the national coach can't also be a head coach of an NRL team.<\/p>\n

However, South Sydney coach Bennett's name has been floated while Cameron Smith<\/a> and Kevin Walters are believed to be the other contenders.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Demon dismantled after stunning Djokovic in first set\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Maroons selection 'error' laid bare by teammate's romp<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Lara's 21-year record survives after skipper's shock declaration<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brad Fittler withdrew his own name from the conversation last week.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Smith has previously said he hasn't been approached by the NRL about doing the job.\ufeff<\/p>\n

On Nine's 100% Footy<\/em>, journalist Michael Chammas revealed the commission will meet on Wednesday to vote on whether the rule will change.<\/p>\n

He said it's "unlikely". \ufeff<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 State of Origin series exclusively live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On July 1, Gould was asked on X about the eligibility requirements and replied with his trademark "don't start me".<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilGould15\/status\/1939893174555877696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffOn 100% Footy<\/em>, the league expert hadn't changed his approach when asked if Bennett should coach.<\/p>\n

"I can't see why not. I really can't see why not," he said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI don't know why it changed back in the old days, they're the best coaches, they're the ones with the best jobs, they're the ones equipped to do it so I can't see why they wouldn't allow it."<\/p>\n

Bennett last coached the Kangaroos in 2005.<\/p>\n

Australia will assemble a squad to contest the rugby league Ashes against England following the NRL season.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phil Gould has backed Wayne Bennett to return to the Kangaroos coach role as the Australian Rugby League Commission mulls over its Mal Meninga replacement. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=455725"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":455728,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455725\/revisions\/455728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/455727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=455725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=455725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=455725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}