Greg Inglis reveals early retirement chat with Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett
South Sydney Rabbitohs talisman Greg Inglis shocked the NRL community in January when he announced his decision to retire at the end of the 2020 season, but it could have been much sooner than that.
After arriving at Redfern from the Broncos following the December coaching swap with former Souths coach Anthony Seibold, the famously stern Wayne Bennett had a “hard conversation” with Inglis about whether he even wanted to play on this season.
“We sat down and had a good hard conversation about whether I did want to retire now or whatnot because at that time my knee wasn’t getting any better and he was asking why,” Inglis told Fox Sports’ League Life.
“And I said to Wayne, ‘Look mate I really would love this opportunity to play for you’... Wayne just called the medical people in, went and got it sorted out, and that’s when we found the cartilage was obviously a bit worn.
Greg Inglis breaks away for try AAP
“But like I said it’s just one of those things that we’ve got to manage for the next two years. I’ve got a time frame now but you never know when it’s going to be your last game of footy or last time you train with the boys so you’ve just got to make the most of it.”
Despite Bennett’s firm demeanour, Inglis said he was humbled by the six-time premiership-winning supercoach’s “genuine” compassion for his players.
“He just really cared about me as a person instead of me as a footballer, and that’s what I love about him,” Inglis said.
“When he asks you how you and the family are going, he’s being really genuine. And he’s 69 years old and this is his 41st pre-season, so he’s lasted a long time and he knows how to treat people.”
Bennett and Inglis AAP
It was a trying off-season for Inglis who was stripped of his Kangaroos captaincy duties only days out from their Tests after he was charged with drink driving offences outside of Dubbo, NSW.
Reports also claimed that he had reported for pre-season training 15kg overweight, although those claims were strongly refuted by Bennett who said Inglis was more like “four or five kilos” heavy when he started pre-season.
