Wayne Bennett says he was “happy to be sacked” by Brisbane.
Bennett began his reign as South Sydney’s NRL coach on Tuesday when he took charge of his first training session.
The 68-year-old said he was content with being axed by the Broncos, a move which opened the door for him to make an immediate move to Redfern.
“You don’t get the chance to say goodbye to anybody when they sack you and they tell you not to come back to the building,” Bennett said.
“But that’s alright. That’s all fine. We’ll all get over it.
“I was happy to be sacked. Just leave it at that. I was happy.”
Bennett took over at Souths after he was dumped by Broncos CEO Paul White on Sunday, bringing to an end weeks of conjecture, as Anthony Seibold returned to Brisbane.
Speculation had been rife that the coaches would trade places for next year after Bennett was signed by the Rabbitohs for 2020 and Seibold by the Broncos for the same year.
However, Bennett – who won six premierships during 25 seasons in charge of Brisbane – refused to stand down, reportedly seeking a full pay out of his contract.
Bennett denied his exit was about money, standing by his stance.
“I’ve been a team member all of my life, I live team, I talk team and some of my team were being isolated and cut out,” he said.
“I couldn’t walk out on them.”
Bennett took charge of the Rabbitohs’ pre-season training run at Redfern Oval on Tuesday morning which featured several senior players including Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Adam Reynolds.
“I’m very pleased to be here. It’s been a long time coming,” Bennett said.
“It nearly happened seven years ago but it didn’t happen.
“I had the first training session and it all went well. It’s going to make it very easy to make the transition.
Asked about his feelings wearing the famous cardinal and myrtle, Bennett said: “It’s a bit mixed. Mixed good.
“I had a look in the mirror when I put my shirt on. It looked OK so I kept going.”