How Wayne Bennett’s Leadership During State of Origin Won Shane Webcke’s Loyalty

A note to young leaders.

You can talk until the cows come home – but your team won’t believe your values until they see what you’re willing to sacrifice for them.

On a wintery night in June 1994, 19-year-old Shane Webcke was celebrating a State of Origin win when devastating news arrived: his father had been killed in a farm accident.

The next morning, Bennett didn’t talk football or ask when he’d be back. He simply told the teenager: “Go home to your family. Take as long as you need.”

In the weeks that followed, Bennett would regularly check in on Webcke, telling him to take his time, assuring him of his place in the team. That act of kindness left an indelible mark on the young prop.

“When you look at that situation for what it is, the man cared about me,” Webcke later reflected. “So guess what? I owed him. From that moment on, he had my loyalty forever. If he told me to run into a train, I’m running into that train.”

Webcke returned to Brisbane, determined to honour both his father and the coach who had stood by him. He became one of the toughest forwards of his era, a cornerstone of four Broncos premierships – and true to his word, he never played for another coach in his 12-year career.

From shocking tragedy came unshakable loyalty – I’ve seen that movie play out at least a dozen times in my career.

Such is the alchemy of leadership.