Wayne Bennett and Jack Gibson make NRL Hall of Fame coaching history

Wayne Bennett and Jack Gibson have become the first coaches in history to be inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame.

The two coaching gurus have won 12 premierships between them.

They join legendary administrators Ken Arthurson and John Quayle, along with broadcasting icons David Morrow and Frank Hyde, as the latest inductees.

Gibson, who coached 394 premiership games before guiding NSW to a 1990 State of Origin series victory, won five titles with Eastern Suburbs (1974-75) and Parramatta (1981-83) and was regarded as ahead of his time.

“Jack was just the first super coach. He took calculated risks that always seemed to pay off,” ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said.

“Jack was innovative and futuristic and ... his one liners were legendary.”

It is fitting that Gibson and Bennett should be inducted together.

Gibson was instrumental in Bennett being selected as the first Brisbane Broncos coach, where he won six titles before also helming St George Illawarra to the 2010 premiership.

“Jack knew how to build sustainable rugby league clubs and was the one guy that could think outside the square. He was also capable of understanding the esoteric side of running a club. He was a real innovator,” founding Broncos chairman Barry Maranta said.

“Gibson thought Bennett was the guy who could not just coach, but get our franchise to a level where we could survive and make money out of it, pay bills and do all the things you need to when you own football teams.

“We needed someone who had a five-year vision and not a five-month vision. We gave him a five-year plan to get a premiership, and in 1992 we did.”

Bennett was inspired in many ways by Gibson himself.

“I admired Jack greatly and loved what he did, and how he did it,” Bennett said.

“I don’t know why Jack chose me, except that he had just said ‘you’ve got to get that boy, Bennett’.”

It was an inspired choice and Bennett has since gone on to become the original “master coach”. His record, unlikely to be broken, now stands at 933 premiership games, stretching back to 1987 in the NSWRL. He also had a decorated career in the BRL before that.

V’landys described Bennett as “the ultimate people manager”.

“He has the rare ability to get the best of a player, no matter their background. Players who come from hard times or players who have everything, Wayne takes them to another level,” he said.

Bennett coached Queensland to seven State of Origin series wins from 25 games, while also coaching Australia, England and Great Britain. He was also coaching advisor with New Zealand when the Kiwis won the World Cup in 2008.

Arthurson and Quayle, both first grade players themselves, were a wonderful team. Arthurson was ARL chairman from 1983 to 1997 and NSWRL chairman from 1987-97. With Quayle, who was CEO of both organisations concurrently, the dynamic duo expanded the competition and navigated the Super League war to keep rugby league afloat.

Hyde, who won the 1939 premiership with Balmain, became rugby league’s voice. Morrow, in his work for the ABC and 2GB, was a legend of the modern broadcasting scene and was much loved.

“Frank Hyde was a pioneer in rugby league broadcasting. His unique description of players kicking for goal – ‘it’s long enough, it’s high enough, it’s straight between the posts’ is recalled with esteem to this day,” V’landys said.

“David Morrow has been one of the great voices of the game – recognised around the country for his wit, his insight and his knowledge. He was a champion in every sense of the word.”