It’s no secret that Gorden Tallis and Wayne Bennett have not always seen eye-to-eye over the years.
However, it has never truly been clear – until now – why the pair have feuded.
Many had thought that Tallis had been left fuming at Bennett after the supercoach benched the former Brisbane Broncos second-row ahead of his side’s clash against the Cowboys in their blockbuster semi-final clash back in 2004.
It would turn out that the former Brisbane skipper would retire from professional footy after that match, having made 214 appearances in footy’s top flight.
While the pair’s relationship has grown better over the years, Tallis, speaking to former Broncos coach Kevin Walters on the Inside Ball Podcast, spoke for the first time in nearly 20 years on why the pair initially fell out.
‘What fractured my relationship with Wayne, right, was when he sacked ‘Kevvie’, ‘Lazzo’ [Glenn Lazarus] and Gary Belcher,’ Tallis said on the podcast.
Gorden Tallis (left) has revealed the real reason on why he first fell out with Wayne Bennett (right)
‘I wrote an article about it. He (Bennett) fronted me and I told him to f*** off.
‘That’s what fractured it. Not me sitting on the sideline.’
Despite their past feuds, there is a serious amount of respect between these two giants of rugby league.
Earlier this year, Tallis spoke about how Bennett, aged 75, had helped many troubled footy stars turn their lives around to become match winners. How? Simply by letting their wild streaks run riot.
Some may see it as a risk. However, the footy boss, who has been coaching since 1987, holds the view that so long as players perform on the pitch then they would be welcome with open arms.
Tallis also opened up on that fateful semi-final in 2004 and Bennett’s reasoning behind it.
‘We didn’t have enough oomph off the bench,’ Tallis recalled.
‘So Wayne said in the Tuesday meeting with the senior guys: “I might start Gordie off the bench because we need something coming off the bench”, and I had played that role.’
The former Broncos second-row admitted that he and Bennett did not fall out because he dropped him during the 2004 NRL semi-final, rather, their relationship fell apart after Bennett hit back at Tallis for a column he wrote, slamming the supercoach for sacking Kevin Walters
Tallis (left) added that Bennett (centre) had been toying with the idea of dropping him the week before the semi-final
However, several of the team’s senior players bit back at the footy coach over the decision.
‘The best part was Mick De Vere and Shane Webcke said: “He’s our leader, he starts”.
‘I remember those words. I thought Wayne would start Sam Thaiday, a Townsville boy, and Neville Costigan was on the bench, so we had some young kids who were a bit mad.
‘I said to Wayne, ‘Throw them in and I will wind them up’, because we only needed them to go for 10 minutes.’
The call even left Broncos legend Kevin Walters fuming, but Tallis tried to reassure his friend that Bennett wouldn’t drop him to the bench.
‘Then Kevvie rings me,’ he said on the podcast.
‘He says: “Mate you are going to start off the bench.
‘I said: “Nah, we [Bennett and Tallis] have sorted it out”.
However, Bennett would go on to drop the skipper to the bench on the day, with that being Tallis’ last ever NRL appearance
‘He says: “No, you are starting off the bench”. I said: “Mate I’ve spoken to Wayne and I’m starting”.
‘Then we go for the team walk on the day of the game.
‘Wayne goes: “I’m going to start you off the bench”, but he knew as soon as we got around the team, there wouldn’t be a confrontation, because the team comes first.’
The Brocos would go on to lose the semi-final 10-0.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .