Rugby league super coach Wayne Bennett has dismissed concerns about player behaviour at this weekend's inaugural NRL Auckland Nines, saying he doesn't plan to treat his players likes children.
Measures such as stationing of security guards at team hotels and using former players to act as chaperones around the city have been adopted, and an NRL briefing to clubs has advised them of the threats their players may face.
Incorporating advice from the police, a risk-management plan warned that players could be lured into fixing matches and be offered performance-enhancing drugs.
Newcastle Knights coach Bennett, told the Herald he would ignore the briefings. "I won't be taking any notice of them. I'm dealing with men here. I work with men every day and I do not treat them like kids. [If you do] they'll never grow up."
Bennett described the tournament as a coup for Auckland and suggested detractors - who have included influential Panthers boss Phil Gould, Storm coach Craig Bellamy and Australian captain Cameron Smith - should get over themselves.
