The seven-time premiership winner said he still had the passion to coach and was open to offers from rival clubs but accepted that, after three tumultuous and largely unsuccessful years, the Knights needed a fresh voice.

‘‘If I was in my first year here, or my second year, it might have been different,’’ Bennett said at a press conference after training. ‘‘But it’s my third year now and I’m most disappointed in what we’ve done. I think it’s time to give someone else an opportunity to come in and show what they can do. The end result is we haven’t played like I think we’re capable of playing, and the buck stops with me . . . you can’t keep passing the buck and blaming other people. It does stop with me. I’ve always accepted that as a coach.’’

Bennett’s star-studded team are 14th on the NRL ladder after four wins from 15 matches and, barring a belated miracle, will miss the finals for the second time in three seasons under his guidance.

In 2012, his first campaign after being lured to Newcastle by former owner Nathan Tinkler, the Knights finished 12th.

Last season they qualified seventh and won two play-offs before being eliminated by eventual premiers the Roosters in the grand final qualifier. Hopes that would prove a springboard to further success have not been realised and, after an unprecedented series of disasters on and off the field, 2014 is shaping as the worst season of Bennett’s top-grade career, which started at Canberra in 1987.

‘‘Our overall performance this year has been the catalyst,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m extremely disappointed. I’m embarrassed by it.

‘‘It’s time to move on. I’ve spent 12 months, this season, trying to rectify it. And I won’t quit trying to rectify it, but I think it’s up to someone else to take it forward from here.’’

Asked if he felt his players had let him down, Bennett replied: ‘‘That’s not my choice of words, being let down. It’s just the performances, what we have done, what we haven’t done. I mean I don’t throw the passes, I don’t miss the tackles. But I employ the people that do.’’

Bennett said the powers-that-be at the Knights and the NRL, which is interim owner of the franchise after Tinkler’s departure last month, were ‘‘keen for me to stay’’ but had not started contract negotiations.

NRL chief executive Dave Smith said he would ‘‘have loved to see Wayne stay at the Knights’’.

‘‘Very sorry to see Wayne go,’’ Smith said. ‘‘Wayne’s a phenomenal coach and he’s been a real asset to that club ... this is a bit of a speed bump but it’s nothing more than that.’’

Knights chief executive Matt Gidley said the club would not need to wait to appoint a new seven-person board before starting the search for a coach. Gidley, incumbent chairman Paul Harragon, two NRL directors and possibly adviser John Quayle will be involved in the process of signing Bennett’s replacement.

Gidley said 64-year-old Bennett was a ‘‘remarkable man’’ and had mixed emotions about his decision to move on.

‘‘It’s a relief that the speculation is now over,’’ Gidley said. ‘‘It seems like there has been speculation around Wayne’s role from the moment he arrived . . . it’s a relief now that we can focus on the final third of the season.’’

Gidley expected ‘‘a number of candidates’’ would express interest in the vacant position.

Home-grown Rick Stone, who coached the Knights in 54 NRL games and two finals series between 2009 and 2011 and has been Bennett’s assistant for the past three years, shapes as an obvious contender.

There is speculation former Canberra and North Queensland coach Neil Henry is in the running, while Penrith’s NSW Cup coach Garth Brennan – who learned his trade at the Knights – is rated a dark horse.

As for Bennett, he said he would consider all offers. ‘‘I’m unemployed at the end of October so I’m interested in any job,’’ he said.

The future of his star protege, Darius Boyd, is also under a cloud after Bennett confirmed the representative fullback ‘‘has a lot of flexibility in that contract’’.