NRL great Gorden Tallis claims supercoach Wayne Bennett gave him green light to bash Ben Ross
Gorden Tallis makes the sensational claim that super coach Wayne Bennett gave him the go-ahead to bash Ben Ross in one of the most infamous footy fights
- Gorden Tallis says Wayne Bennett approved his plan
- NRL legend started the infamous blue with Ben Ross
- Tallis wanted to send a message to ‘lippy’ players
NRL legend Gorden Tallis has revealed that he planned his famous fight with Ben Ross and even had Wayne Bennett’s blessing – with the super coach only having one key condition.
The ex-Broncos enforcer, 49, sat down with former NRL star Denan Kemp on his Guy in a bar podcast and explained which actually led to him doing prop Ben Ross during a highly controversial Broncos vs Penrith game in 2003.
The fight is one of the most publicized incidents of Tallis’ career – and the man they call “Raging Bull” has now admitted it was premeditated.
After suffering a serious neck injury in 2001, Tallis was not the same player he used to be and believed that opponents no longer feared him.
Tallis had noticed that younger rivals were getting “a little lippy” with him, so he decided to send a message.
Gorden Tallis has revealed he planned his famous fight with Ben Ross (pictured) and he even had the blessing of then-Broncos coach Wayne Bennett
“I told Wayne in October β I told all those young kids, keep shutting up,” Tallis recalled.
Wayne said, “What are you going to do?” I said, “I’ll have to punch one in the mouth.”
And Wayne didn’t laugh, he says, “Yeah, cool.” He said, “Just make it big and start the year”.
“Whether it was Ben Ross or whoever, like in the early rounds, if someone was smart, I got to scold them.”
Ross, a talented rookie who had just signed up for Penrith, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
After a hard tackle that saw Ross grab the veteran around the neck, Tallis snapped.
“I grabbed him and he said, ‘Go away.’ He was right, I should have let him go, but I held him for about 30 seconds.
“I said, ‘No, buddy, we’re going to fight.’ I kept going, “We’re fighting, no-no-no-no, we’re fighting! So you better start throwing ’em.”
The fight is one of the most talked about incidents of Tallis’ career – and the man they call the ‘Raging Bull’ has admitted it was premeditated with a thumbs up from Wayne Bennett (pictured together in 2003)
Ross, a talented rookie who had just signed up for Penrith, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when Tallis lined him up for a fight
Referee Paul Simpkin sent Tallis and Ross off the field 10 minutes each after the brawl
βAnd I hold him and kind of half prod him and as he turned to push, the hand came and I was just starting to go.
“I was old, fat and slow and should have retired.”
Referee Paul Simpkin sent off an irate Tallis and a battered Ross after the brawl, while Panthers fans booed Tallis and showered him with beer as he was sent off.
Tallis explained on the podcast that he got to know Ross after that and really liked him.
βI worked with him at Souths. He’s a champion,β Tallis said.