Latrell’s Transformation and a 5-Song Gym Playlist: Wayne’s Rabbitohs Revolution

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When the boom box turns off and Elvis Presley starts blaring in the South Sydney gymnasium none of the players ripping into training so much as flinch.

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Once the King starts singing that’s the signal the supercoach Wayne Bennett has figured out how to work the playlist and strolled into the gym to start lifting weights.

At the age of 75, the man with more premierships than any other current NRL coach shows no signs of slowing down.

Bennett no longer runs the daily 10km he rolled with for decades but the gun for hire who’s been brought into fix the mess at South Sydney is still as fit as most 40-year-olds.

A renowned disciplinarian, Bennett is just what the doctor ordered after the Pride of the League fell to pieces last year to finish 16th on the NRL ladder.

You only need to watch the Rabbitohs tearing into training on any given day at Heffron Park to see the immediate influence of Bennett.

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Or as champion centre Jack Wighton puts it: “Wayne’s got an aura about him. I’d never met him before but my respect level for him is crazy.

“I respect everyone who’s coached me but Wayne’s Wayne Bennett, so it’s a privilege to get to this stage of my career and finally be coached by him.

“You can’t take it for granted though, it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t put the work in on the field.

“We’re putting in some good work and we’re building but until we get out there and we’re playing games we won’t know where we’re at.

“Every single team’s training hard right now but the thing you learn as you get older is it’s a long year. Hopefully we can start fast and keep building.”

It’s 8am at the Rabbitohs headquarters at Heffron Park on Tuesday and it’s impossible to miss the presence of the bloke who’s coached 938 NRL games as the Rabbitohs hit the training paddock.

Like John Dutton staring out across his Yellowstone ranch, Bennett cuts an imposing figure as the Rabbitohs top 30 players begin an opposed session.

Bennett has always been a man of few words but there’s no mistaking who’s the boss.

Assistant coaches Ben Hornby and Steve Antonelli are doing most of the talking but when Bennett decides he needs to emphasise a point he nails it.

A hands-on coach, the man with seven NRL premierships in his kit bag is on the field for the entire two-hour session and then even remains for the goal kickers to work with Graham Arnold when the rest of the squad is done.

Talk to any of the great players who’ve won premierships under Wayne and they’ll tell you his genius lies in his simplicity, his discipline and his ability to understand and relate to different players.

The condition of Latrell Mitchell is next level, another sign of the Bennett-effect at Rabbitohs headquarters.

Latrell looks in the best shape of his NRL career after giving up the booze.

Latrell Mitchell running earlier this preseason. Photo: RabbitohsSource: Supplied

His great mate Wighton – who turned 32 on Tuesday – has done the same and is over the halfway mark of a six-month stretch off the grog.

“It was a mongrel of a year last year and we hated it just as much as our fans hated it,” Wighton said.

“We’re competitors and we don’t like losing so every little bit we can do to try and start a bit better will help.”

When the Souths players have finished a gruelling two-hour field session they head into the gym where it’s only a matter of time before Elvis Presley will be playing.

“Wayne’s only got about five songs on his playlist and it’s wearing pretty thin at the moment,” Wighton laughs.

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South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett and Latrell Mitchell. Picture: InstagramSource: Instagram

Bennett’s office is in the Ron Coote Room – a South Sydney legend who is also an Immortal of the game.

After inking a three-year deal at the Rabbitohs Bennett will create further history when he becomes the first rugby league coach to surpass the 1000-game mark.

Given all the demands of modern coaching it’s a record unlikely to ever be broken.

But Bennett has never been one for breaking records. The only record he wants is another premiership.

That’s how he counts success. The clock is ticking but given everything he’s already achieved you get the feeling the supercoach might still have one more in him.