WAYNE Bennett’s assistant coach in the England set-up, Denis Betts, has no idea if the Brisbane mentor will stay on.
Bennett was off contract after the World Cup final on December 2 but has said he is keen to stay as long as officials can make the Test against New Zealand on June 23 in Denver, Colorado, happen.
That’s looking increasingly unlikely as NRL clubs baulk at releasing their players even though there are no domestic matches that weekend.
“I’m not really sure what’s happening with the RFL,” Betts told League Weekly when asked if he expected Bennett to be retained.
“I’ve had a couple of email exchanges with Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock (from England team management) and a couple of the lads but I’m not really sure what Wayne’s doing.
“I spoke to him just after Christmas but that wasn’t about rugby, it was about him and me, about him having the sunshine on his back and me being in freezing cold weather.
“It’s probably something that needs putting in place quickly. Hopefully we’ve got a mid-season game to put on and then a Test series at the end of the year.
“We need to be selling out stadiums. Those stadiums should be sold out for that Test series (against New Zealand) now, really, if we’re smart about how we did at the World Cup.”
