All eyes are on South Sydney for one last possible move in the NRL coaching merry-go-round after Wayne Bennett was given assurances he would remain at Brisbane in 2019.
Already signed to join South Sydney in a swap with Anthony Seibold for 2020, Bennett met with Broncos chairman Karl Morris on Saturday morning to discuss his more immediate future.
The outcome of that meeting is that Bennett will not be pushed out of the last year of his contract, allowing him to see out his 26th and final year at the Broncos.
It also means Seibold won't be able to join Brisbane next season, leaving him to spend another year at Redfern unless pressure mounts against him.
Bennett had long maintained he wanted to remain at the Broncos next year, while any forced early exit would likely have come at the cost of $1 million to Brisbane.
"I asked him what was happening in 2019 and he said: 'Nothing has changed Wayne. I gave you a commitment you would be here in 2019 and that is the way it is going to remain'," Bennett told NRL.com of his meeting with Morris.
"There were a lot of rumours and innuendo flying around but the bottom line is that he has put that to rest and we can all move forward."
Brisbane also confirmed his stay on Saturday.
"Wayne Bennett is our coach for 2019, as we have stated repeatedly over the past year," a brief statement said.
The news will pose other significant questions before the 2019 season: namely in terms of who will do long-term planning at both clubs?
The Broncos have already released Kangaroos forward Josh McGuire to North Queensland, with other players' futures also undecided.
The Rabbitohs also have a number of key players off-contract at the end of next season, including Damien Cook and Tom and George Burgess.
Rarely has it worked that a coach can remain after signing a year in advance and before the preceding pre-season, most recently in Des Hasler's 2011 axing from Manly.
Bennett at least has some experience in the field, announcing early in 2008 he would leave Brisbane for St George Illawarra the following year.
Meanwhile, Seibold has already had to deny reports on his return to Souths training earlier this month that he'd lost to support of the playing group after his decision to move.
Regardless, the fate of Bennett and Seibold next year is the last piece of a chaotic coaching puzzle that has dominated the NRL for the past four months.
In that time Anthony Griffin was sacked at Penrith with Ivan Cleary eventually replacing him. Michael Maguire was handed the reins at the Wests Tigers and Des Hasler returned to Manly.
Next year threatens to be equally frantic for coaches with Brad Arthur, Shane Flanagan, Paul McGregor, Dean Pay and Stephen Kearney all off contract.
Share
