The man known as GOAT is hoping to butt heads with opponents beyond his final regular-season club game for the Dolphins against Canberra on Sunday.
The Dolphins, in ninth position, will need Bennett's South Sydney to beat the eighth-placed Sydney Roosters to have a chance of playing finals.
The club has had some fun with the ultimatum ahead, releasing a clip on X (formerly Twitter) of foundation Dolphins coach Bennett dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars.
Princess Leia appears, saying: "This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wayne Kenobi. You're my only hope."
Obi-Wayne is silent, nothing strange about that, but you can be sure he will be elated if the Rabbitohs can knock over the Roosters and help out his old side.
"I sent Wayne a text yesterday to tell him this (retirement announcement) was happening and to thank him for everything. I said, 'good luck Friday. I will be watching'," Nicholls said.
"I'm sure he will be up and about this week knowing that he could potentially do us a big favour. Wayne does his best work as the underdog.
"I am sure he has planted the seed that no one gives them a chance and that the Roosters as arch-rivals have everything and Souths have nothing. He will be feeding that psyche into the players and trying to fire them up."
Nicholls, 35, had played just 40 NRL games in seven seasons and his career was at the crossroads when Bennett arrived at the Rabbitohs and turned him into a regular NRL front-rower.
He played every game of the 2021 season on the way to the grand final. Nicholls, a member of the current leadership group, was a foundation Dolphins signing and has played a key role in instilling a team-first culture in the squad.
He did get offers from Super League but is settled in Redcliffe, where he and wife Perrie and their young family have just moved into a new home.
"It was probably a decision about whether I wanted to go to England or not, but as the year played out I've realised Redcliffe is where I want to spend the rest of my life," he said.
"I had a conversation with Woolfy (coach Kristian Woolf) early in the year and there are a lot of young guys who are ready to step up."
Nicholls will move into an ambassadorial role, similar to the one held by former captain Jesse Bromwich.
"Every time I've seen Jesse this year he has had a beer in his hand and a smile, so I am pretty happy with that," Nicholls said.
Nicholls credits wife Perrie for inspiring him to work hard away from the field. He was a reserve-grader when Bennett told him in mid-January of 2019 that he liked what he saw and would pick him in round one for the Rabbitohs no matter what.
"That gave me belief and I didn't want to let him down," Nicholls said.
"I worked out early I didn't have a lot of talent, speed, strength or power, so I had to be fit and a worker.
"Away from footy I wasn't that professional, until I met Perrie. Wayne came into my life and career and I haven't looked back."
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