Wayne Bennett has revealed he "just knew the time had come for me to move on" from Brisbane as he prepares to begin the first day of the rest of his coaching life.

And somewhat appropriately for someone who has kept many in the dark about the most anticipated coaching move in memory, Bennett said he had always been a "closet Dragons fan".

After ending a remarkable 21-season stint as Brisbane Broncos coach, Bennett will take charge of his first St George Illawarra training session this morning in Wollongong - the first day of summer and the first day of a new era for the club, which is yet to win a premiership after 10 seasons as a merged entity (St George have not won a title since Bennett was coaching Brisbane Souths).

Speaking about the reasons behind his move for the first time, Bennett said on the Dragons website: "An opportunity presented itself at the appropriate time and I have always been a closet Dragons fan all of my life.

"I have always had great respect for the club. I just knew the time had come for me to move on. The time was right for me and fortunately I had a great club like the Dragons to move on to."

In an interview for Dragons members, Bennett said of the club: "From the outside … the club has a very strong brand and I don't say that lightly. It is a club that genuinely is an iconic brand within Australian sport and it generates a lot of interest. They have a great history, great players and great people."

Bennett, who has signed current and former internationals Jeremy Smith, Darius Boyd, Luke Priddis and Neville Costigan as well as Mathew Head and Michael Weyman to be part of a new-look squad under his mentorship, said he was still unsure what style of play he would introduce.

"It is difficult to answer that at this point in time, I need to get in and spend time with the players at training," he said. "Coaches always want to play a certain style and try to take the players towards that style, but your style is always influenced by the capabilities of your players."

Bennett, who agreed to join the Dragons less than a month into the 2008 season, said he had kept a closer eye than usual on the Dragons throughout his final year in Brisbane.

"I certainly did but it didn't affect my work in Brisbane," he said. "I was always checking the scores and seeing how guys played. I watched some tapes and was interested in both the NRL and under-20s games."