Brian Smith has used his column on the roar.com.au to criticise old sparring partner Wayne Bennett over his coaching methods pre and post Friday’s flogging at the hands of Souths.

“There is no argument that both his international-laden Broncos of the past were predictable – predictably bloody brilliant that is” Smith wrote.

“But just like Souths were in taking the Broncos apart, the Broncos’ gun teams of the past had so many players with great talent that leaving ‘predictable’ as the only tag for the champions looked silly.

“The hole got a little deeper. But since when does Australia’s premier sporting coach need to explain himself?

“Describing his team’s performance as ‘playing like the club has for the past couple of seasons’ was very negative and more than a little demeaning to those involved.

“And then singling out Sam Thaiday’s performance? Very un-Bennett like.

“It looked like the experienced coach had started to really see the size of the job and the huge expectation. He has handled all of that so well in the past, so what made his responses stand out? Pressure.”