Mind games between Walters and Bennett before battle of Brisbane

The mind games have started.

The moment the unbeaten Dolphins walked off McDonald’s Stadium 36-20 winners over Newcastle on Friday night coach Wayne Bennett was scheming to get inside the heads and minds of his old club Brisbane.

And minutes after Brisbane Broncos pulled off a 40-18 comeback win over the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium their coach, Kevin Walters, began his own “smoke and mirrors” campaign by playing down the historic clash.

Not in their wildest dreams could anyone have imaged Brisbane and the Dolphins sitting first and second on the NRL ladder heading into their round four “Battle of Brisbane” clash on Friday night.

You probably could have got one-million-to-one about that scenario with the Dolphins widely tipped to struggle and questions being asked about Brisbane following their late-season collapse in 2023.

The clash needs no promoting, it’s already a 50,000 sell-out.

Bennett knows Friday night’s historic first meeting of the clubs will be one of the most eagerly awaited battles in decades and will be given a State of Origin build-up by the media.

Not surprisingly, the old Master was playing things down when asked his thoughts on the “Battle of Brisbane”.

“It’s the easiest game in the world to coach,” responded Bennett with a wry smile.

“You don’t have to get players up for games like this one.”

Walters — who won five premierships under Bennett with the Broncos — did his best not to start a media war with Bennett by suggesting: “I haven’t even thought about next week”.

If that’s true he’d have to be the only rugby league fan in Brisbane who hasn’t thought about the historic showdown.

I’d bet money it’s been in the back of his and the Broncos’ minds since the 2023 draw was released by the NRL.

Make no mistake, this is a game both clubs have circled on their season diary.

This is a clash both clubs desperately want to win.

It’s history.

It’s bragging rights, it is the most significant club game in Brisbane’s rugby league history.

For 35 years, a majority of them under Bennett, the Broncos have been Brisbane’s only NRL side.

Now they have a rival.

Brisbane fans now have a choice of who they support and they will turn out in their thousands on Friday night to do just that.

Walters was not buying into the rivalry with the Dolphins, preferring to talk about the Broncos as a club.

“We are the Broncos, that’s our club,” he said.

“That’s who we are and that’s our mindset.”

When the media tried to get Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds to bite by asking him if he thought his former Souths coach would have the Dolphins fired up for Friday night’s showdown he replied: “yeah, I think so”.

But before Reynolds could elaborate, Walters jumped in to take the pressure off his skipper by declaring: “We know Wayney, don’t worry, we both know Wayney”.

For Walters, this week is a game within the game and how he handles his battle with Bennett.

It was clear after the big win against the Dragons he was careful not to engage in any verbal sparring before the game and that is probably a wise move given Bennett’s record in high-stakes games.

Bennett will absorb the media pressure as he always does in these situations because he has had more practice at it than any coach in the game and he is astute at it.

Walters is still learning.

He has a lighter side than Bennett and can get emotional at times.

How he copes with the build-up will be almost as interesting as the game itself.

One thing seems almost certain.

At the end of Friday night’s game, either the Broncos or Dolphins will be the sole premiership leaders.

That is unless, and who knows given the closeness of games this season, they play out an historic draw.

Now that would be something for the history books!

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