Newsletter

Wayne Bennett fires Justin Hodges, Queensland Maroons

Less than a week after being named Queensland head coach, Wayne Bennett has brutally dismissed the great Justin Hodges of Brisbane Broncos from the Maroons coaching staff.

After Kevin Walters was selected to replace Anthony Seibold at Red Hill last week, Bennett was given coaching duties in Queensland on Friday, just over four weeks before game one of the 2020 State of Origin series.

It will be the 70-year-old’s fourth assignment as an Origin trainer, with South Sydney Rabbitoh’s current mentor previously in charge from 1986 to 1988, 1998 and 2001 to 2003.

Watch the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership Final on Kayo. Any game before the Grand Final Live & On-Demand with no commercial breaks during the game. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming right away>

But Bennett wasted no time in his new role and chose to replace Queensland’s assistant coach Hodges with Neill Henry, Nine News reporter Ben Dobbin revealed.

Henry has an impressive coaching resume with 11 years of experience in the NRL including stints with the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans.

“Wayne Bennett believed he needed more experienced assistant coaches to help as they were having an uphill battle against NSW,” said Dobbin.

“The bloodshed started with Justin Hodges, last year’s assistant who was let loose by Wayne Bennett and who won’t be a part of this year’s series.”

Hodges and Bennett worked together as skipper and head coach, respectively, during the 2015 NRL premiere in Brisbane, where they reached the Grand Final.

The Queensland squad is expected to be revealed on Wednesday and North Queensland Cowboys striker Josh McGuire has reportedly been overlooked.

Although McGuire has been a fixture in Queensland since his Origin debut in 2015, he will be the biggest victim since the announcement on Wednesday.

According to James Hooper, a journalist at Fox Sports, Bennett intends to usher in the next generation of maroons and rising stars AJ Brimson, Mo Fotuaika and Phillip Sami will receive a call.

In a historic premiere, the entire country of origin will take place in 2020 after the NRL Grand Final. The first game is scheduled for Wednesday October 4th in the Adelaide Oval.

Queensland is hoping to prevent the New South Wales Blues from winning their third consecutive Origin series.

READ MORE: Panther’s superstar rubbed off the finale

READ MORE: Club’s Ugly Standoff with 17 Year Old Phenomenon

Bennett said he felt privileged to have the opportunity to stand up for the Maroons on such a big series.

“I love coaching Queensland and I am extremely humble to be invited to coach this team again, especially given the challenging circumstances Kevin coached the Broncos in,” said Bennett.

“I am very proud and pleased that I can still do it. The country of origin means so much to the people of Queensland.

“It’s been a difficult year for a lot of people and I just want to give something back when I can.”

– With NCA NewsWire

.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending