‘What could go wrong, has gone wrong’: Injury disaster ruins Souths
The rugby league gods have done nothing to help the South Sydney Rabbitohs head coach Jason Demetriou in the cruellest of scenes.
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Rugby league is a cruel game.
After a week of noise around the future of South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou, the Rabbitohs have lost their fifth match of six to start the season, going down to the Cronulla Sharks 34-22.
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But the result is only half the story after the Rabbitohs were decimated in a brutal first half of the match.
While the result means the Rabbitohs are still anchored to the bottom of the NRL ladder, there was there was undoubtedly more heart from the Rabbitohs as an injury calamity left Souths with just one player on the bench late in the first half.
It came after Tyrone Munro suffered a broken collarbone, Tevita Tatola was in a moon boot after a syndesmosis injury and debutant fullback Jye Gray was sent for a HIA.
Although Grey passed the assessment, he was immediately replaced by captain Cameron Murray, who was sent for a HIA to finish off the half.
Murray ultimately failed his HIA.
“It has been injury carnage for the Bunnies — what could go wrong, has gone wrong,” Fox League sideline reporter James Hooper said.
It meant the Rabbitohs had to make big changes to the backline but the side put in a heroic performance to hang into the match for as long as they did.
While the Sharks looked like they would run away with the result when opening up a 28-12 lead in the 67th minute, the Rabbitohs hit back twice, cutting the lead to six with just five minutes remaining.
On a day where the Warriors pushed Manly to golden point despite being down by eight points with just over a minute remaining, Souths were hoping for another miracle.
But the Sharks closed it out when Blayke Brailey dived on a loose ball in the in-goal, closing out the 12-point win.
Demetriou said he was “pretty proud”, admitting there was “a bit of carnage out there”.
As if he’d "expect to be coach next week”, Demetriou said “I’d expect so.”
“Nobody’s told me otherwise. So we’ll review the game, turn up. If not, we’ll find out.”
Demetriou said it hadn’t been too much of distraction, but added “you don't want to be going through this”.
Greg Alexander said the Rabbitohs had been “gallant, brave and out of juice”.
“But being gallant is not enough,” Andrew Voss added.
The week has been horrific for the Rabbitohs with constant speculation the club was about to cut ties with coach Demetriou dependant on the result in the match against the Sharks.
The pressure had been getting to the 48-year-old as he walked out on a press conference on Friday after just 27 seconds.
Reports have also emerged that Souths are lining up Australian coach and Immortal Mal Meninga as a potential interim boss.
Speaking on Fox League, Meninga said it was “awkward” to comment on Souths but said the club had not yet been in contact.
Although any moves from South Sydney will play out over the next week or so, it was a promising performance from the team.
But as they sit dead last after six rounds, only time will tell how long promising will buy Demetriou.
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Originally published as ‘What could go wrong, has gone wrong’: Injury disaster ruins Souths
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