NRL 2023: South Sydney Rabbitohs consider parting ways with Sam Burgess, John Morris amid player unrest, relationship breakdown

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are poised to immediately part ways with two assistant coaches amid reports of player unrest and a breakdown of relationships with Jason Demetriou.

The Rabbitohs are considering parting ways with Sam Burgess and John Morris. Picture: NRL Imagery.

South Sydney are poised to immediately severe ties with assistant coaches Sam Burgess and John Morris following a tumultuous 24 hours for the NRL club.

The club is expected to hold further talks on Wednesday, which could bring an abrupt end to the tenure of Burgess and Morris, whose positions at the club seem increasingly untenable.

It is understood a decision on the pair was delayed while club officials consulted co-owner Russell Crowe on Tuesday night amid reports of player unrest and a breakdown of relationships within the coaching department, with suggestions that Burgess and Morris are not on the same page as head coach Jason Demetriou.

Demetriou on Monday hit out at suggestions Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell held too much power at the Rabbitohs. In particular, the suggestion that the pair are held to different standards.

The Rabbitohs are considering parting ways with Sam Burgess and John Morris. Picture: NRL Imagery.

Burgess is understood to be unhappy with perceived preferential treatment of the star pair, creating a divide between some of the club’s most recent icons.

This masthead understands Morris is unlikely to be retained beyond this season, and that he is being linked with a move to the Wests Tigers to join Benji Marshall’s coaching set-up for 2024.

Burgess will join UK Super League club Warrington as their head coach from next season and goes with the blessing of co-owner Russell Crowe.

Burgess and Demetriou were at South Sydney’s Maroubra headquarters on Tuesday.

Demetriou left the club’s Centre of Excellence at 3pm, shortly after Burgess.

Souths co-owner Russell Crowe is known to be frustrated at the club’s implosion on and off the field in the latter part of the season.

Some within the club are understood to be unhappy with perceived preferential treatment of Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker. Picture: NRL Imagery.

Their departures would leave Ben Hornby as Demetriou’s only assistant coach for the remainder of Souths’ season, which will come to a head in a do-or-die round 27 clash with the Sydney Roosters, that will likely decide their finals fate.

They will go into that clash without Mitchell, who on Tuesday accepted an early guilty plea for a grade-two dangerous contact charge for his elbow on Newcastle forward Tyson Frizell in Sunday afternoon’s 29-10 loss to the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium that’s left the Rabbitohs’ top-eight hopes hanging by a thread.

“I’m disappointed, not only because of the game (a loss) but also in myself. I have worked really hard to get this stuff out of my game, the brain snaps,” Mitchell told 9 News.

“I’ve tried to mature a lot. I haven’t had an incident since 2021, that incident with Joey Manu. I have worked really hard to get myself back to playing footy and enjoying it and getting that stuff out of it, the grubby stuff.”

Souths have the bye this weekend and then face the Roosters at Accor Stadium in the final round of the season.

Rabbitohs head coach Jason Demetriou hit out at suggestions that Mitchell and Walker held too much power at the club on Monday. Picture: Getty Images.

The Rabbitohs (eighth), North Queensland (ninth) and the Roosters (10th) are all on 28 competition points with only for and against separating the trio. The Roosters face wooden spooners the Wests Tigers this weekend, meaning next week’s game could act as a finals qualifier.

“It’s what people buy tickets for to come and see. I put bums on seats and it’s the game everyone wants to come and watch,” Mitchell said.

“It just burns me that I can’t be there to play that game.”

Rabbitohs officials met on Tuesday, although a senior source revealed that no decision on the pair had been made on the potential coaching staff shake-up.

It would be a sad ending to Burgess’ time at the Rabbitohs, given he led the side to a breakthrough grand final victory in 2014.

“We’re not winning footy games at the moment so the rumour mill is going overdrive,” Demetriou said on Monday.

“Latrell Mitchell was out for 12 weeks so if he was running the show during that time, I don’t know what the problem was there.

“They are two very influential players in a group, but they are part of a group. The only way to answer that stuff is to win footy games.

“At the moment there is lots of talk. That is because we are not winning.”