Wayne Bennett opens door to a Sam Burgess return at South Sydney as supercoach heaps praise on favourite footy son's exploits with Warrington Wolves

Wayne Bennett has hailed Sam Burgess's debut season as a head coach, opening the door to a possible return to South Sydney for his favourite footy son.

Bennett, 74, confirmed his return to the Rabbitohs in 2025 after signing a $3.6million deal that will keep him in the game until he is 77.

The supercoach faced the media on Tuesday to discuss the move, and inevitably attention turned to the exploits of Burgess in England, where he has taken Warrington Wolves to third in the Super League. 

Burgess worked under Bennett during his first spell at Souths, but quit last year under Jason Demetriou's stewardship, claiming that the likes of Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker were receiving preferential treatment. 

But Bennett is seemingly willing to gloss over that small speedbump if Burgess is ever willing to return, although he insisted that the Englishman needs his own space to develop as a coach.  

'Sam is doing a great job at Warrington, and he needs that time and space over there to do that,' Bennett said. 'We'll see what the future holds. He's a damn good person.'

Ben Hornby is currently in charge of the Bunnies on an interim basis until the end of 2024, and Bennett said there is space for Hornby on his staff, if he chooses to stay. 

'Absolutely, 100 per cent,' he said when asked whether he would allow Hornby to stay on. 'We're great friends.

'We won a premiership together [at St George Illawarra in 2010]. We're on the same page about our thoughts on the game.

'He's also strong enough to tell me when I'm out of order, and vice versa. I have a great relationship with him. He's a very good coach.

'He's not my opposition [this year]. He's got the easiest coaching job in the NRL right now in the sense I'll be there with him next year, he's trying to hold the club together, [and] he's doing a really good job, while waiting for the new coach to come in when the new season starts.'