Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys!

Position: Right-back/Centre-back/Centre-midfield

Appearances: 110

Goals: 6

Arrived from: Bolton Wanderers

Left for: Mansfield Town

A versatile youngster when arriving at Dale, Rhys Bennett honed his abilities at Spotland and has gone on to have a very solid career across the lower leagues.

The Bolton-born defender originally came through the ranks at his hometown club, playing mostly as a centre-back in the club's reserves sides but struggling to make a breakthrough into the first-team.

In the 2011/2012 season, the last year of his contract with the Trotters, the 19 year old was sent north of the border to Falkirk on a season-long loan, where he featured 19 times and helped the Bairns to win the Challenge Cup , although he didn't feature in the club's final victory over Hamilton Academical.

Upon his release from Bolton, Dale boss John Coleman was quick to swoop for Bennett, signing him on an initial one-year contract. It seemed at first however, that the youngster would simply be providing back-up for the Liverpudlian's favoured partnership of Ryan Edwards and Phil Edwards in the centre of defence.

Rhys (middle name Gordon, I kid you not) would have to wait until a September win at Wimbledon to make his league debut, but from that point on he was a regular in the side although not in the position expected. He originally started featuring in defensive midfield as cover for the injured Peter Cavanagh, but reverted to first choice right-back over the Autumn months.

A very calm head in the defence, Bennett was starting to grow into EFL football and showed a composure beyond his years at times, reading the game brilliantly. Although not always the most technical player, his first goal for the club in a December defeat to York was a stunning one, as he won a challenge on the half-way line and slalomed through the Minstermen's defence to slot home what would go on to be awarded the club's Goal of the Season. And yes, there is a video below (skip to 2:27 for the goal)

With Dale struggling to mount the play-off challenge that most fans had been hoping for, Keith Hill was brought back to the club in the New Year, but Bennett managed to retain his place for the majority of the season, playing mostly as a sitting midfielder, breaking up play and making surging runs forward, his domineering presence showing his potential if positionally he was still learning the role somewhat.

Towards the end of the season however, Bennett suffered an injury set-back. Peter Cavanagh returned to the fold and by this point, Shane Cansdell-Sheriff had arrived on loan and Joe Rafferty had nailed down the starting berth at right-back.

As such, Bennett started the 2013/2014 season as something of a utility option, with Olly Lancashire and Ashley Eastham now forming a formidable centre-back partnership. The arrival of Jack O'Connell on loan only limited Bennett's game time further as Dale won promotion back to League One.

That's not to say Bennett wasn't a pivotal member of that promotion-winning squad. Being equally adept in three different positions allowed Hill to utilise him wherever was needed and that cover provided by Bennett allowed the manager to reinvest funds into attacking re-inforcements instead.

Perversely, Bennett actually seemed to flourish more in the league above and he stepped into the defensive midfield role that was vacated by Peter Cavanagh in the summer of 2014. Now seemingly understanding the role better than ever, he was certainly a different type of midfielder to Cavanagh, but still provided a strong defensive base for the likes of Matt Done, Ian Henderson and Peter Vincenti to flourish from in that season as Dale finished just two places outside the play-offs. He chipped in with two goals too, both coming in 2-1 home wins over Yeovil Town and Cheltenham Town.

2015/2016 saw something of a key change from Keith Hill and although he tried not to make too many changes to personnel that summer, the set-up of the team changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, leaving less room for a player sitting at the base of the midfield. What's more, Bennett suffered from a handful of injuries in that season, starting on the pre-season trip to Tenerife where he broke his arm and followed up with a hamstring issue that plagued him throughout the year.

Just seven starts were made by Bennett over the course of that season as the emergence of youth products Andy Cannon and Callum Camps plus the addition of Jim McNulty made competition in midfield and defence much stronger. As such, when the season came to an end, it was no surprise that Bennett was released.

Mansfield would be his destination, and he found some stability at Field Mill that had perhaps been missing in his time at Spotland. Playing solely as a centre-back, he featured in every league game that season, retaining his place even after Adam Murray was sacked and replaced by Steve Evans, a man who would prove to be quite important to the remainder of Bennett's EFL career.

Bennett continued to be a key figure at Field Mill over the following season, and finally left the club in the summer of 2018 having racked up 84 appearances and four goals in just two seasons. It came as little surprise to see him head south to join Peterborough United, the club that had poached Steve Evans as manager from the Stags just a few months previous.

In his first season with Posh, Bennett featured heavily, mostly in his favoured position at the heart of defence and he found the net four times, including the winner in a home win over Fleetwood early in the season, instantly endearing himself to the London Road faithful. Again, he retained his place in the starting eleven even after a managerial change, as Evans was replaced by Peterborough favourite Darren Ferguson in the January of that season.

In the summer of 2019 however, Ferguson brought in two new centre-backs in the shape of Mark Beevers and Frankie Kent, leaving Bennett sidelined for the majority of the campaign and making a total of just seven starts before the campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic and he found himself without a club again as Ferguson released him at the end of the season.

After six months without a club, Bennett found himself linking up with another former Dale coach in Chris Beech in November of 2021 and he was something of a fan's favourite in his short spell at Brunton Park as one of the team's stand-out performers on the pitch and winning hearts and minds away from it by raising money for mental health charity MIND by streaming a 12 hour gaming marathon.

Unfortunately for the Cumbrians, he rejected a new contract with the club at the end of the season and again linked up with Steve Evans at Gillingham in the summer of 2021. After 17 appearances with the club, Bennett found himself out of favour with interim boss Steve Lovell after Evans' departure and was allowed to leave the club to join League One Morecambe.

After just 12 appearances for the Shrimps, he again found himself without a club and at the time of writing that's still the case - although still aged just 31 it's unlikely we've seen the last of him yet.

Photo: Action Images

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