NRL supercoach Wayne Bennett is at war with Triple M in Brisbane following a highly offensive skit where his split with ex–wife Trish and the breast size of the woman he left her for were featured in a mock interview.
While the breakfast show featuring hosts Dan Anstey, Margaux Parker and Greg Martin issued an on–air apology, it appears the damage is done, with Bennett banning Triple M indefinitely.
It is also understood Parker – the wife of Broncos great Corey – also phoned Bennett to apologise personally.
Triple M are the NRL’s broadcast rights holders, but any interview with the South Sydney coach is now off the table.
In the astonishing mock interview, Martin and Margaux fired a series of ‘questions’ at Bennett, with his answer always the same – ‘I knew someone would ask that question’.
They used a recording of Bennett giving that response to a journalist on July 26 when he was asked if he feels the Rabbitohs are wooden–spoon candidates following their defeat against Cronulla.
NRL supercoach Wayne Bennett is at war with Triple M in Brisbane following a highly offensive skit where his ex–wife Trish and the breast size of current partner Dale Cage (pictured) featured in the mock interview
In the astonishing mock interview, Martin and Margaux fired a series of ‘questions’ at Bennett, with his answer always the same – ‘I knew someone would ask that question’
Some of the ‘questions’ listeners heard included: why he dropped NRL Immortal Wally Lewis from the Broncos in the early 1990s, why his 42–year marriage with Trish ended, if Bennett believes he resembles famed actor Clint Eastwood, and, inexplicably, how big are his current partner Dale Cage’s breasts – which was posed by Parker.
Bennett confirmed to News Corp he was aware of the offensive remarks about his ex–wife and current partner.
‘That’s personal stuff, so I’m not going to go into that,’ he said.
‘You talk to them (Triple M). If they want to say something about their behaviour, you talk to them, but I’m not saying anything more.’
Bennett’s partner Cage heard the segment live this week and called Triple M management to lodge an official complaint, according to Code Sports.
South Sydney CEO Blake Solly said it was a ‘private matter for Wayne to deal with’ before adding he ‘has the club’s total support’.
Bennett met Cage in 2013 while he was coaching the Newcastle Knights and she was working with club doctor Neil Halpin.
He confirmed the relationship began while he was still married in the biography The Wolf You Feed by journalist Andrew Webster.
Bennett met Cage (pictured together) in 2013 while he was coaching the Newcastle Knights
At the time, Bennett was regarded as a family man known to glowingly praise his longstanding wife Trish.
She was the primary carer of their two adult disabled children back in Brisbane while he spent six years coaching 1076km away in Wollongong and later Newcastle, with Trish’s blessing.
‘Trish and the family didn’t want to see me staying at home and not being happy and not being challenged. Like myself, they would naturally prefer me to be at home, but they were happy for me to go (to the Dragons and Newcastle) because they knew it’s what I wanted to do,’ Bennett recalled in 2014.
‘We just got on with life as a family and as a unit we have made it work.’
Trish and Wayne Bennett’s 42–year marriage ended in 2016 (pictured together in 1999)
The stoush with Triple M comes after former Rabbitohs halfback Adam Reynolds recently revealed a heart–to–heart with Bennett in 2020 helped save his marriage.
‘It was a really tough part of my life. He [Bennett] is very good at reading the room,’ the Broncos playmaker and father of four recalled on the Inside Ball podcast.
‘I wasn’t giving out too much and he grabbed me aside one day (at Rabbitohs training) and said: ‘What’s up?’
‘I opened up to Wayne and he then regularly checked in with me, which was good.
‘It was hard to navigate through that time and if I didn’t have that guidance from Wayne, I don’t know where I would have been.’
