Wayne Bennett says he has “no regrets” over the bombshell 1989 decision that divided Brisbane and ended the friendship of the state’s two biggest stars.
The supercoach famously sacked Wally Lewis as captain of the Broncos following the 1989 season, and handed the honour to Lewis’ best mate Gene Miles.
Lewis – who Bennett had recruited to be the club’s inaugural captain in 1988 – started the following season at Red Hill but then quit after only nine games, and joined the Gold Coast Seagulls where he finished his career.
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“(Bennett) stared at me for about two or three minutes… (he said) ‘I’m taking captaincy off you’,” Lewis recounted in Nine’s documentary The King, which airs Tuesday.
“He wanted whoever was the captain to not be available for representative football. That wasn’t my plan for the future.
“He didn’t beat around the bush, Wayne. He told me the areas of my captaincy which he thought were disappointing.”
Bennett has rarely, if ever, spoken about his decision in the 34 years since.
He was again quizzed about it when interviewed for the documentary, and offered a small insight.
Nine will premiere ‘The King’ documentary on Tuesday night at 9.10pm (AEST). Watch ‘The King’ on Nine and 9Now!
“Wally was distracted and we needed a new captain. Simple as that,” Bennett said.
“I’ve never spoken publicly about it, and I promise you today I’m not going to speak publicly about the conversation and why it was done.
“No regrets, nope.”
If taking the captaincy from him didn’t anger Lewis enough, Bennett then handed the armband to Miles – a long-time friend and teammate of The King.
It was a decision that tainted the relationship between the pair, and Miles believes it’s never been fully repaired.
“That’s 33 years ago… he’s nearly over it,” Miles tells the documentary.
“If anybody was going to take the captaincy it’s somebody that he would respect, and would just go along with it. Holy Jesus… was I wrong. That just didn’t happen.
“That shattered the friendship. We haven’t been at the fences since then.”
While Lewis now regrets how he reacted, he admits at the time he was livid with both Bennett and Miles.
“Gene grabbed me one day and said ‘I’ve been offered the captaincy’. I said, ‘OK… so do you think I was a shit captain?’,” Lewis reveals.
“I said to Gene, ‘if you want it bad enough, you take it’, and I walked away like a spoiled school kid.
“I was a little bit angry, moreso at Wayne I think, and I unfairly took it out on Gene. Although Wayne was right to make the decision he thought was best for the Broncos’ future.”
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