boyblue's review
2.0
This is a short motivational quote laden musing on coaching and leadership. His other book Man In The Mirror is more of a diary based "and then" style with chronological consistency but probably a similar amount of insight in double the length.
The biggest thing I got from this was that the NRL is decades behind American sports in terms of professionalism. This applies to management, coaches and players. The game is still in its professional infancy and as such the depth of thought applied to the game is limited but it also explains to a degree the continual scandals from players who are part of a reasonably new system in a highly public age that has yet to grow into its professionalism.
Despite its infancy there are still a few legends of the NRL and there is a smattering of them in this book but most of the great quotes are from American football coaches and players. Bennett much like his idol Jack Gibson seems to have taken the American school of football as his model. Here are a few of the best quotes.
On what's more important a good coach or a good captain. Remember this is coming from one of Rugby League's greatest coaches
"A coach with a bad captain, he's struggling."
"A good captain with a bad coach, he's making the coach look good."
"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it."
- Weary Dunlop
Bennett recommends people ask themselves these questions
- Am I allowing my life to be governed by daily activities, or do I choose to live in accordance with good principles?
- Am I allowing my life to be governed by outside forces?
- Am I so busy putting out fires that I don't have time to start any?
- Do I have important goals and dreams I am committed to, or am I creatively avoiding commitments by filling my life with daily activities?
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
- Henry Ford
"There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more, and the other is to desire less."
- Wayne Bennett
"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything"
- Don Shula
"How do you tell Australian pioneers? By the Knives in their backs"
The biggest thing I got from this was that the NRL is decades behind American sports in terms of professionalism. This applies to management, coaches and players. The game is still in its professional infancy and as such the depth of thought applied to the game is limited but it also explains to a degree the continual scandals from players who are part of a reasonably new system in a highly public age that has yet to grow into its professionalism.
Despite its infancy there are still a few legends of the NRL and there is a smattering of them in this book but most of the great quotes are from American football coaches and players. Bennett much like his idol Jack Gibson seems to have taken the American school of football as his model. Here are a few of the best quotes.
On what's more important a good coach or a good captain. Remember this is coming from one of Rugby League's greatest coaches
"A coach with a bad captain, he's struggling."
"A good captain with a bad coach, he's making the coach look good."
"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it."
- Weary Dunlop
Bennett recommends people ask themselves these questions
- Am I allowing my life to be governed by daily activities, or do I choose to live in accordance with good principles?
- Am I allowing my life to be governed by outside forces?
- Am I so busy putting out fires that I don't have time to start any?
- Do I have important goals and dreams I am committed to, or am I creatively avoiding commitments by filling my life with daily activities?
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
- Henry Ford
"There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more, and the other is to desire less."
- Wayne Bennett
"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything"
- Don Shula
"How do you tell Australian pioneers? By the Knives in their backs"
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