Maybe Wayne Bennett fears retirement and joining that “mass of men” whom American philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote “lead lives of quiet desperation”.

After all, Bennett’s 2007 book, written with Steve Crawley is titled, Don’t Die With The Music In You, a quote taken from American polymath Oliver Wendell Holmes, a 19th-century contemporary of Thoreau.

It’s the fear of a life of emptiness that drives many long-term coaches, a nagging angst at the loss of a creative future. Craig Bellamy put it simply when explaining why he would coach into a 22nd successive season at the Storm, saying, “I’m not sure what else I would do when I retire.”

On Friday, he announced he will make that at least 23 seasons.

Bennett coached Bellamy at the Raiders in 1987, back when his contemporaries were part-time, holding day jobs as school teachers, policemen, or poker machine salesmen. Players were also part-time. Their full-time job paid more than their football contract and they were therefore less disposed to travel across the city to join another club. Clubs were also restricted to just 13 players from outside their own area – across three grades. Training sessions were on weeknights. A head coach had no assistants and most clubs had one permanent employee – a “secretary” – which was a misnomer considering he couldn’t type.

Video replay was in its infancy. Only two games were televised per week and players often had to wait until the Tuesday night training session to know whether they were playing Saturday or Sunday. Competition between the two Sydney afternoon newspapers – The Sun and Daily Mirror – for scoops was intense, although TV criticism was restricted to a few barbs from Rex Mossop on Channel 7. Players queued up for a place on the massage table and training was usually held on the club’s home ground, meaning wet weather ruled out ball work and........

© Brisbane Times