Monday Buzz: South Sydney CEO Blake Solly Q&A reveals telling Jason Demetriou update

In an exclusive interview with Blake Solly, the South Sydney CEO opens up to PHIL ROTHFIELD about coach Jason Demetriou’s immediate future, Sam Burgess whispers and the state of his club.

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

South Sydney did enough on Saturday night against the Cronulla Sharks to earn embattled coach Jason Demetriou a stay of reprieve.

Chief executive Blake Solly explains to Buzz Rothfield that Demetriou will continue for upcoming matches against Storm and Penrith after the bye.

Buzz: Brave performance Saturday night against the Sharks Blake but you conceded 34 points and missed 45 tackles.

Blake: It was brave and I agree that’s a lot of missed tackles and points conceded. However, we had to deal with a lot of chaos throughout the game. We finished up with one man on the bench for the entire second half. We had positional changes everywhere because of the HIA’s. We lost Junior and Tyrone early, and the skipper at halftime. This all contributed to the problems with our defence. It wasn’t through lack of trying.

Buzz: It was tough with No Latrell, Damien Cook, Jai Arrow and Campbell Graham. That’s a lot of your salary cap.

Blake: You can’t help but admire the resolve of our players (on Saturday night), even if we didn’t get the result. Right up to the last couple of minutes they had a chance to win it.

Buzz: OK, the big question. Jason Demetriou. Will he remain in charge?

Blake: The club’s only desire is to see JD succeed. You can show enough in a loss for everyone to be positive about the performance.

Blake Solly (R) with Jason Demetriou. Picture: Julian Andrews

Buzz: Can you guarantee JD will still be in charge in a month’s time.

Blake: Our Chairman (Nick Pappas) said before Saturday’s game that if the performance against the Sharks was gallant and showed resilience, we will give Jason time.

I think the performance showed that, with plenty of room for further improvement in coming weeks. If we continue to grow in confidence, determination to win and stability - Jason will be given the time he needs.

Buzz: It sounds a bit like a temporary stay of reprieve. Who is going to make the long-term call? Is it the owners, the board, the chairman Nick Pappas or you?

Blake: It’s the board with input from senior management.

Buzz: Surely they’ll take on board your recommendation. You’re there 24/7 with the team.

Blake: Yes, I believe they will. Our board are outstanding – extremely supportive but with a strong desire to get back to our best form on the field.

Buzz: I thought JD showed a lot of class at his press conference after the game, opening up with his thoughts around the Bondi Junction tragedy before he spoke footy.

Blake: That’s reflective of the person that he is. I thought it showed a lot of compassion and care, particularly given the emotions he would have been dealing with immediately after the game.

Buzz: Blake, how much responsibility do you take for the team being on the bottom of the ladder. You’re very highly regarded in the game. Some have mentioned you as a future NRL CEO. But at the moment your club is struggling.

Blake: Of course I take responsibility. The buck stops with the CEO, there’s no doubt about it. I’ve got to take responsibility for the challenges we’ve had in the last 12 months, absolutely.

Buzz: You signed the coach for three years. I presume that was your recommendation.

Blake: Yes, it was based on my recommendation.

Buzz: Sam Burgess walked away last year complaining about a poor culture. Was he right? A lot of people think he was right.

Blake: Sam has always said to me he never spoke to the press about any cultural issues, so it is hard for me to comment on the speculation. I’ve never seen Sam quoted in any of those stories. Anything Sam and I discussed in private will remain private.

Buzz: You seem to have a leak in the club. Some confidential comments from Alex Johnson out of a team meeting finished up in the public arena last week. Surely that’s a concern.

Blake: Of course it’s concerning that issues raised by players in their own team meeting get out. It’s only the players and coaches in that meeting. It’s probably something the players and coaches need to address among themselves. Players need to be able to have honest conversations in a place where it’s safe to do so.

Buzz: Wayne Bennett, Mal Meninga, Madge Maguire. I understand a third party reached out to Mal last week around the coaching job. Was he acting for the club?

Blake: No there has never been any official contact with any of those three around a role for this year or beyond. I’ll say it again. We want to give JD the best possible chance to succeed.

Buzz: You’ve got the bye. Will you take the opportunity to do your due diligence about the coaching.

Blake: It would be more about looking to see how or where we can help JD in any area, than due diligence about other coaches.

Buzz: Can I get your thoughts on Latrell? He’s been a bit of a train wreck.

Blake: I think “train wreck” is unfair. Latrell has been very open in recent days. He had the best pre-season he’s ever with us but some of the off-field distractions of the opening month resulted in what happened last weekend. He’s had good discussions with us and his management team and he’s certainly committed to the club.

Buzz: Other big names, Cody Walker and Damien Cook are struggling and not justifying their big pay packets. Why?

Blake: Again, I think that’s also unfair on both players. Both had disrupted pre-seasons with injuries. At times they’ve looked closer to their best in recent weeks. We need them at their best consistently and knowing the character of the two players, I think you’ll see that in the coming weeks.

Sam Burgess leaves Rabbitohs HQ for the last time. Picture: Julian Andrews

Buzz: You lost a lot of experience in Wayne Bennett and Adam Reynolds when they left at the same time. Has Reynolds come back to bite you?

Blake: Any time you lose the experience of people like Wayne and Adam it’s going to take time to recover. We live in a sport that has a salary cap and you can’t keep everyone. We couldn’t come up with an offer that matched what Adam wanted at the time.

Buzz: But you found enough coin for Jack Wighton.

Blake: That was because the NRL made a fundamental change in the Salary Cap at the end of 2022. Back then we didn’t think we’d have the money for any player, but the salary cap increased significantly at the end of 2022. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that would be the case when we were negotiating with Adam in early 2021. But I think Jack’s shown in recent weeks what he will deliver for us over the next four years.

Buzz: OK, let’s finish up with this. Can you still make the top eight?

Blake: Yes. That confidence comes from my experience with this group of players. It feels to me every day I walk in that it’s a happy club with plenty of spirit and character, despite the results.

Buzz: What about this talk that Shane Richardson might come back.

Blake: I see Richo very regularly. We live on the same street. The only thing I’ve heard from him lately is that he’s very happy at the Wests Tigers.

Originally published as Monday Buzz: South Sydney CEO Blake Solly Q&A reveals telling Jason Demetriou update