Inside the power struggle that is strangling South Sydney

The Rabbitohs have long been held up as a standard-bearer for private ownership. Now they are hamstrung by what appears to be a power struggle that is strangling the club.

Jason Demetriou. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou arrived for training bright and early on Tuesday morning. The skies matched the mood at the club’s Heffron Park headquarters as training got underway – grey and gloomy.

Media had already begun assembling at the entrance to the club’s training ground as a board meeting kicked off where the main topic on the agenda was the future of Demetriou.

Chair Nick Pappas was overseas but the other six directors – four representing the club’s private owners Russell Crowe, Mike Cannon-Brookes and James Packer – were on hand, thrashing out a way forward for a club that began the season with high hopes but are now battling to avoid the wooden spoon.

Crowe has two representatives on the board – Swedish film producer Mikael Borglund, who was the executive producer of the recent John Farnham documentary and Poker Face, which starred Crowe; and Keith Rodger, who produced Robin Hood, The Next Three Days and The Water Diviner.

Cannon-Brookes is represented by Kelly Morton, the managing director of Skye Capital. James Packer’s representative on the board is Sam McKay, one of his long-time key lieutenants.

Between the three private owners, they have the majority on the board and the power to have the decisive say over Demetriou’s future.

Jason Demetriou was out on the training paddock while the board discussed his future. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Players finished training and began filing in and out of the cafe on the ground floor, where they mingled with fans. Meanwhile, the real action was going on upstairs as Rabbitohs powerbrokers spent more than three hours discussing what to do next. Remarkably, they emerged having scheduled a second meeting for late on Tuesday with Demetriou none the wiser. When he left Herron Park after lunch, no-one had spoken to him about his job.

He told the assembled media that his only focus was Thursday night’s game against premier Penrith. He wanted to keep going to try to turn their season around.

He loved his job, he said. Surely that love was tested like never before on a day when Souths’ dysfunction off the field became apparent once again.

“I am preparing for tomorrow’s training and we will see how we go,” Demetriou said.

“It was a good day, the boys trained well. I want to get on with coaching the footy team – that’s what I am paid to do.

“I appreciate you all being here, but I’m going home. It’s not easy. But it is what it is. We’re a big club, we’re not performing, questions have to be asked.

“I understand that and I respect it. The boys have been outstanding. That’s never been an issue. They’re a tight group, we’re battling with injuries at the moment.”

The Rabbitohs have long been held up as a standard-bearer for private ownership, having dipped their toe into the water with Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court all those years ago.

Now they are hamstrung by what appears to be a power struggle that is strangling the club, with Demetriou caught in the crossfire.

It was highlighted a matter of weeks ago when Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga revealed he had been approached about joining Souths as an interim replacement for Demetriou.

Others at the Rabbitohs weren’t as convinced – some claimed they were unaware of the approach – and Meninga became so disillusioned he publicly ruled out joining Souths.

The Rabbitohs opted to give Demetriou more time to prove he should finish the season but when Souths were battered by Melbourne, a regularly scheduled board meeting suddenly became more than regular.

Demetriou was back on the agenda and so Tuesday morning arrived with an ominous feeling in the air. It lingered throughout the day.

The fact that a second meeting was scheduled only served to reinforce the rumours that have enveloped Souths. Crowe, it was said, wanted the club to have all their ducks in a row before they parted ways with Demetriou.

That meant an interim coach ready to go and a new coach for next year – seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett the obvious candidate – on the hook.

Others felt it was time to pull the trigger regardless. Demetriou, meanwhile, was left hanging in the breeze. He deserved better. So do Souths fans. They have had it so good for so long but now is their turn to feel some pain.

Their club is now gripped in a struggle on and off the field. It may be overstating things to suggest Souths are involved in a civil war, but the sooner everyone gets on the same page, the better for everyone.

Originally published as Inside the power struggle that is strangling South Sydney