On Tuesday, April 30th, the South Sydney Rabbitohs announced the sacking of head coach Jason Demetriou after three years of leading the club.
This decision comes as no surprise to Souths followers and footy fanatics alike as Souths start the 2024 season just one win from seven games, cementing their place as last on the ladder.
Up until round 13, 2023, the Cardinal and Myrtle were leading the competition at first on the ladder. The club has seemingly collapsed since then. This is statistically their worst start of the season since their re-instatement back into the league in 2002.
The data shows, since legendary Wayne Bennett’s departure as head coach at the end of 2021, the Rabbitohs performances year-by-year have persistently worsened under Demetriou.
The future of the club post Wayne Bennett looked hopeful for Souths fans as Demetriou led the team to a mighty 2022 finals campaign, finishing with a preliminary final exit to the eventual premiers, the Penrith Panthers.
Souths woeful form extends further from just this year though, with the Demetriou led Rabbitohs having a 23%-win record since their round 12 loss to the Parramatta Eels in 2023.
Souths fans had hoped that their team wouldn’t fall victim to a post-Bennett collapse following his exit at the end of 2021, with the veteran maintaining that Demetriou would be an appropriate fit for the club.
History shows that apprentices of the master coach, more often than not, are sacked within the following years after their contract with the club and Jason Demetriou has proven to be no different.
“Jason Demetriou himself didn’t miss a tackle or drop the ball, but if he’s lost the dressing room it can spread negatively throughout the club.”
– Lifelong Rabbitohs’ fan Robert Cole
Robert Cole, a Souths fanatic that has stuck with the club through it’s highs and extreme lows argued that Demetriou could very well be a scapegoat for a larger set of issues at the club.
“I think Jason will be judged as a failure. He was left with a good roster and for whatever reason they didn’t gel. It’s not good enough for the board, the fans and the players, change at some point was a necessity.” Mr Cole said.
Reports from insiders of the club suggest that the reasons for the downfall of Souths is more than just a ‘coaching issue’, with controversy of internal power struggles amongst executives being revealed in the past week.
It’s likely that the Rabbitohs’ worst start to a season in the past 20 years is more nuanced than it just being one man’s fault, however, the statistics of the club’s form over the past three seasons reveal a persistent pattern of failure.
As such, Jason Demetriou’s career at the team is over, with assisstant Ben Hornby taking over as interim coach for the remainder of the 2024 season.