LeagueNews.co | Jason Patrick
The NRL is poised to maintain its "ban on club coaches being able to lead the Kangaroos," effectively dampening Wayne Bennett's aspirations to coach Australia and putting Kevin Walters in a favorable position for the role.
This decision comes on the heels of South Sydney's troubling news that star fullback Latrell Mitchell is likely to be sidelined for at least a month due to a quad injury sustained in training.
Recently, the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) convened to discuss overturning the ban on NRL head coaches serving as Kangaroos leaders.
However, according to News Corp reports, the ARLC decided before State of Origin Game 3 to uphold the regulation, thereby excluding Bennett from the opportunity to coach the Kangaroos during the end-of-season Ashes series.
Bennett had expressed a desire to succeed Mal Meninga as head coach of the national team, but NRL CEO Andrew Abdo emphasized that the next mentor would not have any club affiliations.
As Bennett is under contract with Souths until the end of 2027, former players Kevin Walters and Cameron Smith emerge as the frontrunners for the position after Brad Fittler declined to pursue it.
Nonetheless, the commission seeks a candidate with significant coaching experience, which may disqualify Smith.
This leaves Walters, who has led the Queensland Maroons to State of Origin victories and coached the Broncos to the 2023 NRL grand final before being let go after a disappointing season.
While Walters had applied for the coaching role with the new NRL team, the Perth Bears, he was ultimately passed over in favor of Meninga.
He has, however, expressed a genuine interest in leading the Kangaroos, with the upcoming Ashes series against England as a significant motivation.
"Probably the biggest goal was to one day maybe coach Australia, which was a dream and [I was] not thinking more about it at the time," Walters shared on Triple M.
"It would be a huge honour to coach Australia.
I'd certainly like to sit down with people and have a chat about what the situation is and what they are looking for...
I'd be very interested in that role."