Amid reports South Sydney recently lobbied the NRL to eradicate wrestling from the game, ex-NRL star Adam MacDougall has revealed the controversial tactic was the catalyst for a falling out between legendary coaches Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy.
As first reported by News Limited journalist Brent Read, Bennett’s Bunnies presented a comprehensive report, including a mountain video evidence, to head office during the off-season in a bid to have the practice outlawed.
It remains to be seen whether the NRL will take any significant action, with the Rabbitohs understood to be the only club that doesn’t currently employ a wrestling coach.
Bennett has long been an opponent of wrestling, while Bellamy is widely regarded as the godfather of the polarising tactic that now dominates the code.
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Bellamy was an assistant coach at Red Hill under Bennett in the early 2000s before moving on to start his own legendary coaching career at the Melbourne Storm in 2003.
There has reportedly been no love lost between the two coaches over the years, with Bellamy infamously pursued by the Broncos to replace Bennett in 2018.
And MacDougall, who played 195 NRL games for three NRL clubs, on Thursday claimed tensions between the pair can be traced back to a disagreement over wrestling.
“Rumour has it that him (Bellamy) and Wayne Bennett didn’t see eye to eye on this (wrestling) early,” MacDougall told Triple M’s The Rush Hour With MG.
“When he (Bellamy) was at the Brisbane Broncos he brought in wrestling coach – the first in the NRL – and Wayne Bennett didn’t want anything to do with it and stopped it.
“And that was one of the reasons that Craig then started looking elsewhere for a coaching position, hence how he ends up in Melbourne.
“So he’s always hated this, Wayne Bennett. He’s never really brought wrestling coaches into any club that he’s in as a result of his dislike for it and what it’s doing to the game.”
