Rabbitohs make brutal call on imperilled coach Jason Demetriou

Jason Demetriou and Mal Meninga.

The Rabbitohs have reportedly in secret made a decision on coach Jason Demetriou’s future after their latest dramatic defeat.

The Rabbitohs have reportedly made a decision to keep Jason Demetriou on life support for at least a few weeks.

The crumbling club slipped further into crisis on Saturday night following a dramatic 34-22 loss to Cronulla where the home side was reduced to just 14 players at one point.

Watch every game of every round this NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

South Sydney has lost five of their six matches to start the season and the drums have been beating that Demetriou is on borrowed time.

It emerged during the week that the Rabbitohs had begun to compile a list of candidates to replace Demetriou if the club decided to swing the axe.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga poured fire on the rumours when he confirmed there was “interest” from the Rabbitohs, despite claiming he had not officially been approached by the club.

The Immortal also said he was interested in the role of being a caretaker coach until the club lines up its next long-term coach.

Jason Demetriou and Mal Meninga.

Sam Burgess, Wayne Bennett, Michael Maguire and even Craig Bellamy have been mentioned in the swirling rumours.

It emerged on Sunday, the Rabbitohs have made a decision to give Demetriou a final chance to save his bacon.

As first reported by foxsports.com.au, the Rabbitohs will keep Demetriou in charge at least through to the club’s next game against the Storm on Anzac Day.

The club has a bye in Round 7, and then have a tough run of games against the Storm and Penrith.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield on Sunday morning also reported South Sydney officials will wait to see how the team performs against the Storm and Panthers before making a decision on Demetriou’s future.

Demetriou said after the loss to the Sharks he was “pretty proud” of how his team performed considering a horror night of injuries.

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.”

The pressure had been getting to the 48-year-old as he walked out on a press conference on Friday after just 27 seconds.

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 injury toll was as brutal as it gets. Photo: Fox Sports

Is this the last we see of Jason Demetriou? Photo: Fox Sports

Speaking on Fox League, Meninga said it was “awkward” to comment on Souths but said the club had not yet been in contact.

Rothfield said on Sky Sports Radio his mail was that Demetriou has been given a “stay of execution” - for now.

“I think the Rabbitohs are going to temporarily now stand by Jason Demetriou,” he said.

“I think last night’s performance showed players will turn up for him. The bottom line for him though is that they still conceded 34 points. They still missed 45 tackles.

“That is my mail that he will temporarily hang on. I think they’ll give him Melbourne and Penrith and if things get really ugly there I think they’ll make a move. With all those names mentioned – Meninga, Madge (Maguire), Sam Burgess, Wayne Bennett. I think last night’s performance has bought them some time. I think every fan walked out of that stadium last night with a little bit of hope for what’s ahead.”