Two weeks ago, all boys in the College gathered in the hall after classes to welcome Wayne Bennett and listen to him tell a little of his own life story as well as give us some advice on how we may approach our own lives.
Although most known as one of Australia’s best rugby league coaches in history, Wayne Bennett has also become a popular public figure due to his own family experiences and the huge respect and loyalty that all those who meet him have developed for him. The episode of Australian Story which featured Wayne Bennett has become the most viewed of the series.
Bennett’s speech to the boys was outstanding. I could write pages of ideas and thoughts that came from his talk to the boys. There were, however, a few key things that kept coming up in what he had to say. One of the comments that he made several times came back to our perception of ourselves. He encouraged the boys to not waste a minute comparing themselves to others. He went on to say that God made us all different and this is something that we should value, rather than try and make ourselves just like someone else. He also stressed to the boys the importance of not worrying about what you don’t have. No one can have everything or be good at everything. Look at what you do have and what you can do and use that to the best of your ability.
As someone who loves quotes myself, Wayne Bennett certainly gave me my daily dose and in keeping with the theme above, he quoted, “True nobility lies not in being better than someone else, rather it lies in being better than your previous self”. This is something that he spoke a lot about, focusing on self improvement which essentially comes from self awareness. He highlighted how important small improvements are and in doing so quoted Pope John XXIII who wrote, “See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little”.
In order to achieve these improvements, Bennett explained to the boys how important self discipline was. He described discipline as being “the ability to do things that you don’t want to do”.
The final message that Bennett tried to impress upon the boys was the important of your values being non-negotiable. In his case, he believes that values of people can be broadly summed up by (1) trust, (2) taking responsibility rather than looking to blame and (3) character. It was the last of these, character, which he was able to sum up so simply as “who you are and what you do when no one is watching”.
The humble manner in which Wayne Bennett approaches everything he does is superb. His words to the boys were simply inspirational and we were all exceptionally privileged to be able to have him join us and pass on to us so much of his wisdom.
Photo 1: Wayne Bennett addressing the boys
Photo 2: A Year 11 boy taking the photo opportunity with one of the legends of Australian sport.
