Hope not, but having said that, I always thought he was hard done by when we sacked him. He had a horrendous injury list, and still managed some great results...and his successor was not exactly an improvement!

I think he's been hard done by at Widnes. They seem to have next to no investment in the squad. They rarely get any good/new players in. Then they eventually got Chase, and he gets banned for drugs. This year they've had a horrific injury list again. Inu along with Mellor was their best player this year, and then he breaks his arm.

Look at the players he has at his disposal, even when fully fit that squad isn't good enough, and I'd put that down to investment rather than Betts.

Sadly it looks like they may be the ones to lose out to Toronto, and maybe another club will lose out to Tolouse (unless they alter league structure).

According to reports in Australia Bennett had been told he has no future at the Broncos beyond this season.

Wigan have it seems reportedly offered Bennett a massive deal to come to coach here.

Bennett chose Dennis Betts to be his number 2 for England.

I’m not saying the Bennett/Betts coaching team will end up at Wigan but it makes things interesting as it appears on paper at least that all the stars are aligning.

I don’t have anything against Bennett, as it happens I think he is doing a grand job with England, but I’m hesitant about him when it comes to Wigan.

With England, he came in to steady the ship and make us competitive with Australia, if not beat them (which we very nearly did in the WC Final).

With Wigan he’ll be coming in to rebuild and whilst doing that have continued success. I’m not saying he isn’t capable of it; he clearly is and he’s an extremely well liked and well respected coach, but I just wonder if the job would be better suited to a younger candidate with fresh(er) ideas.

I wouldn’t be up in arms if he were appointed, I’d probably be content with it. But for me it’d be a very short term appointment at a time when I’d be looking for some medium to long term stability given the likely staff turnover.

If Bennett wants to come I’d be amazed, he’s mentioned in the past how he likes to be near his family. On the off chance he’d come over here we’d get 12 one season.

I’d still take that with a coach of his calibur, I’d then look for his successor and try and get them as assistant for that season.

Won’t happen though.

Wouldn't advocate Betts, but I do feel for him. Seems like there have been pleny of occasions when they have looked pretty decent, then injuries strike and they just don't have the resources to sustain it.

Think there's a decent coach in there, so hope he gets the chance at somewhere where he'll be able to show it a little better.

I don’t think Bennett would have the same commitment to youth development that a local coach would. Not convinced he’d be right for us.

Dennis is a really nice lad. But my view is that he's had his day as a head-coach. He's been in and around that role for 14 years and had no success. I honestly believe it would be a backward step to give him the top job at Wigan, for him as well as us.

I wouldn't be surprised if IL didn't surprise us all by recruiting an unknown, perhaps someone who's currently an assistant somewhere.

He's actually had success with that method in the past. Brian McDermott was an assistant when IL signed him for Harlequins, and though he didn't win a trophy with them, he wasn't a failure and he then went on to win several at Leeds. And at Wigan, IL recruited both Michael McGuire and Shaun Wane, again both assistants, and yet both switched comfortably into the head-coach role and had great success.

Just because it's happened before doesn't mean it should happen again of course, but why change a winning formula?

-Bennett
+any Aussie coach

I notice Warren Gatland's (Wales RU coach) interview yesterday was hardly adamant when asked about Shaun Edwards's future. He said arrangements were being made for Shaun to link up part time with two regions in addition to his Wales duties next year but that if "opportunities come along you've got to look at them if they are the best option for you and your family and the future" hopefully that is hinting at contact with Wigan rather than England RU

Interesting spot, definitely sounds like he's gone out of his way not to be too definitive.

Having said that, I'd expect we're probably still at the stage where we're working out who our number one target is.

I’d have thought by now a list has been compiled of applications 4/5 coaches with interviews etc set up.

I think in his mind IL knows who or what combo he wants in the coaching department and for me it needs to be announced sooner rather than later so we can start to build the squad for next season. Wigan at the minute aren’t looking too attractive with coaches and players leaving in quick succession. A head coach 2019 announcement would go a long way to redress that balance IMHO.

Moley reporting that Bellamy is set to sign a new deal at the Storm so Bennetts job appears to be safe at Brisbane

Who would want to come to Wigan as coach??

There are probably not many who wouldn’t want the job!

Any up & coming assistant coach in the NRL would snatch your hand off for the job, come in for a couple of years to prove themselves and go back, as Madge did.

We are in a real downer at the moment but let’s not kid ourselves. We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and head coach at Wigan is a plum job. We won’t be short of applicants.