“Character is what you do when people aren’t watching you.”
And with that the capacity audience at the Mudgee Racecourse stood as one and applauded Wayne Bennett.
The St George Illawarra Dragons coach was the special guest speaker at the Mudgee Public School’s fundraising dinner for their Special Education Unit.
A who’s who of local businessman and women, teachers, sport stars and Mid-Western residents attended the three-course dinner on Friday night.
Everyone was there to show their support for the school’s Special Education Unit and to listen to one of Australia’s greatest ever coaches.
In his 30-minute address to the audience, Bennett told funny stories, answered questions and spoke candidly about his career as a football coach.
But what captivated the sold out room was the 60-year-old’s advice on life.
Bennett spoke about challenging yourself to be the best person you can be, discipline, leadership and self-confidence.
The former Queensland and Australia mentor knows a lot about challenges and leadership as a rugby league coach, but more importantly, as a father of two disabled children.
Bennett’s son Justin suffers from a mental disability and his youngest daughter Catherine suffers from arthrogryposis – a rare congenital disorder.
Bennett agreed to be the special guest speaker after Mudgee Public School’s P and C president Adam Sutherland wrote a letter to him.
“Adam wrote me a letter and talked about what he and the school were trying to achieve and I couldn’t ignore that,” Bennett told the Mudgee Guardian.
The six-time premiership winning coach said he did not agree to attend the night because of Justin and Catherine.
“They’re just my kids... I’m here because I want to help improve education for them [the school’s special needs children].
“These people are here for the same reason as I am... it’s very important for a community to get behind one another.
“As I said before, character is what makes you, it makes you a better person.
“I draw my inspiration from a lot of places... if you can make a difference in other people’s lives, well that is a good thing,” he said.
Back in 1999 in an interview on the ABC, former coach and Sydney Morning Herald sport journalist Roy Masters described Bennett “somewhere below Jack Gibson, which is somewhere just above God”.
After his speech people came up to Bennett and worshipped him like an immortal figure.
But it wasn’t too long before the talk turned to the upcoming rugby league season.
And for the many St George Illawarra fans Bennett had this to say.
“We are going well, training is full on. But I’m not going to say we’re going to win the premiership because there are 15 other teams who want to do the same thing,” he said.
Mr Sutherland also said he was very thankful to Peabody for their donation and Robert Oatley Wines for supplying all of the wine on the night.
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