Townsville Blackhawks head coach, Terry Campese, has spent this week at the USANA Rabbitohs Centre at Heffron Park, learning from the man he describes as ‘the GOAT’.
The GOAT, universally-accepted terminology which stands for Greatest Of All Time, is an apt way of describing the Rabbitohs new head coach, Wayne Bennett, who is in pursuit of his eighth NRL premiership at South Sydney in 2025, and Campese has taken the opportunity through the affiliation partnership between the Rabbitohs and the Blackhawks to soak up everything he can from Coach Bennett and his coaching staff.
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Campese told www.rabbitohs.com.au.
“One, to be involved with Wayne and to see how he goes about his business, and also to watch our players that have been down here throughout the pre-season.
“It’s been very welcoming from the Rabbitohs so far. I can’t thank them enough and it’s been a really good experience.”
Campese, who played 139 games for the Canberra Raiders as well as representing Australia, New South Wales, Italy and Country Origin, is spending the week at the Rabbitohs to improve his skills as a coach and to see what it takes to coach at the elite levels of the game.
“It’s always good to be involved with an NRL club. That’s my goal and my dream, to be in NRL coaching one day,” Campese said.
“To learn and watch the ‘GOAT’, the best, Wayne, is a really good opportunity and one I’ve really loved.
“Hopefully I can take some of that back now to my players and to our team, and I can be better as well.
“Just the way he goes about his business, the way he talks to the boys, it’s been really, really good.”
Campese has taken part in field sessions this week, running his eye over the way the coaches manage the sessions, and has been involved in the other areas of coaching throughout the week.
“I sat in on the meeting this morning, the session planning yesterday, the wrestling session this afternoon and pretty much the whole day I’ve been shadowing the coaches,” Campese explained.
“Benny (Hornby) and Sutto (John Sutton) have been really good, and then Wayne comes in and has the final say.”
Despite building a distinguished playing career that spanned more than a decade in Australia and England, this is the first time Campese has had the opportunity to work with Coach Bennett. He has, however, had dealings with the rest of the Rabbitohs coaching staff since coming onto the NRL scene in 2004.
“It was just before he signed with Souths last year, he did a sportsman’s lunch up in Townsville at Brothers Club where we’re based,” Campese said.
“He had a little bit of a laugh and said we need to be talking to the new coach of the Rabbits about their affiliation, so he kind of hinted that he was going to be headed down here, but that’s the only kind of interaction I’ve had throughout my footy career.
“(I) definitely (played) against Benny and (I’ve worked) with Steve-o (Steve Antonelli). He coached us at the Raiders and was involved with the Mounties and the affiliation there when I was playing, so I’ve had a little bit to do with them, and obviously I’ve played against John throughout my whole career as well.
“And then last year we had the affiliation and Ben took over as coach and at the time Gehamet (Shibasaki) came down to play so I had a fair bit to do with Ben last year as well.”
Campese said that despite some teething problems throughout 2024, the affiliation between the Rabbitohs and the Blackhawks has been extremely fruitful and very beneficial for the Club from far-north Queensland.
“It was a little bit up-and-down last year to be honest, with the change of staff and coaches, but this year it’s been outstanding,” Campese said.
“We understand a little bit more what it looks like, and then the way the boys have come back, we’ve sent five players down and we got two back before Christmas. We’ve still got three down here and they’re in really good shape.
“They’re really committed, and they want to play NRL, so it helps our cause and it’s a good representation of the brand.
“We just want that really good relationship and hopefully some of our players can push to play first grade after round 12.”
The benefits of the partnership have been there for all to see, with Coach Campese joking that his players have been keen to show off the improvements to their physical shape upon return to Townsville.
“Number one, Dudley (Dotoi)’s physique! He came back to training just after Christmas and I don’t think he wore a shirt for the first training session to show the boys what shape he was in!” Campese laughed.
“And Lennix (Tovo). He was on a train-and-trial with us last year from rugby union in Canberra. He came along in leaps and bounds and was rewarded with a train-and-trial, and just the way he’s come back, his attitude and the way that he’s talking on the field has been an incredible difference.
“Also, his physique has changed being in a full-time system so hopefully they can play really good football and push to be in an NRL squad in the coming years.”
Last year there were emotional scenes when Campese had the opportunity to tell Gehamet Shibasaki that he would be playing in the NRL again, pulling on the famous South Sydney jersey. Campese says this is the reason he, and other coaches, put in the work that they do.
“That’s why we coach. We want guys to fulfil their dreams, and last year being able to tell Gehamet that he was going to be playing down here in a Rabbits jumper, there’s no better feeling,” Campese smiled.
“That’s why we’re there. We want to teach them what we can, and hopefully we can reward them with opportunities like that.
Campese says one of the other benefits of the Rabbitohs and Blackhawks affiliation is the way it helps the Townsville side recruit, being able to offer a clear pathway to the NRL for the best performers.
“Out of the five boys we sent down, it definitely helped with getting Josh Stuckey and Luke Webley over the line, so that was really beneficial,” Campese explained.
“And then the other three with Bailey (Biondi-Odo), Dudley and Lennix, they were rewarded for their efforts on the field.
“We’re one of two Queensland Cup teams that don’t get NRL players back. That might change this year, we’re not sure. We’re still working with Wayne and the coaching staff on how that relationship will look into the season.”
Campese is buoyant about his side’s chances in the Queensland HostPlus Cup in 2025, his second season as head coach.
“Last year was a massive learning experience. We’ve learned a lot from that,” Campese said.
“We’ve cut down our squad, so we’re only carrying a squad of 30 whereas last year we had 44, so we couldn’t put the time into the individual that I would have liked to. We’ve already seen a big difference with cutting that squad down.
“We’ve recruited quite well and we’ve got a really, really competitive team that I believe in, so hopefully we can push for that top four spot.”
Campese said outside of the learning he has done this week at Rabbitohs HQ, it’s been a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with one of his former teammates in Jack Wighton, who he played with at the Canberra Raiders. Campese says Jack still has the same glint in his eye as he did coming through the ranks as a rookie back in 2012.
“Well, I think the younger Jack Wighton still sits in there somewhere!” Campese joked.
“It’s good to see Jack talking about his move and his transition up here to Sydney. He’s absolutely loving it.
“He’s still into his fishing, he loves being outdoors, so it was good to see him.
“I haven’t seen him so tired in a session before! He made about 50 tackles in a defensive drill today and was out on his feet, so it’s been really good to catch up with him.
“He’s a quality player and I think he won all of the awards last year for Souths, so hopefully Souths’ team can keep everyone on the field this year and we can see the best of Jack Wighton again.”
The Rabbitohs will head to Townsville for a trial match against the Townsville Blackhawks to be played at Jack Manski Oval on Saturday 8 February at 5pm local time (6pm Sydney time). Tickets are available at the gates.
