Rabbitohs farewell seven players as Wayne Bennett re-build begins

South Sydney have confirmed the departures of seven players as incoming coach Wayne Bennett takes out his scythe.

Dean Hawkins of the Rabbitohs. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

South Sydney have confirmed the departures of seven players as incoming coach Wayne Bennett continues to rebuild his squad for 2025.

The farewells of Damien Cook (Dragons) and Tom Burgess (Huddersfield) are well documented, but joining them will be halfbacks Dean Hawkins and Dion Teaupa, winger Izaac Thompson and forwards Leon Te Hau and Michael Chee-Kam.

Chee Kam is reportedly set to join NRL rivals the Sea Eagles, while Hawkins has been linked with the Eels and the Titans.

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We would like to thank departing players
Cookie
TommyB
Itom
Dion Teaupa
Dean Hawkins
Leon Te Hau
Cheeks @chee_kampic.twitter.com/dvaSGPU88r

— Rabbitohs Radio Podcast (@chapsandbrowny) September 6, 2024

At this stage, no club has shown interest in Teaupa, Thompson or Te Hau.

The decision to farewell the five players coincides with the arrivals of Euan Aitken (Dolphins), Gerome Burns, Lewis Dodd (St Helens Saints), Lachlan Hubner (Dolphins), Jamie Humphreys (Sea Eagles), and Max McCarthy (Sharks) for next season.

The players on Souths’ top 30 that remain unsigned for 2025 include Ben Lovett, Isaiah Tass, Shaquai Mitchell and Taane Milne, while the club has reportedly tabled offers to Tass and Mitchell.

Dean Hawkins of the Rabbitohs. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

South Sydney interim coach Ben Hornby is still confident his side can bounce back in a big way in 2025 following a disastrous year on and off the field that saw them finish second last after they lost seven-straight games to round out the season.

It’s a mighty collapse by a club that was on top of the ladder after 11 rounds last year but ended up missing out on the finals, with that poor form continuing to start the 2024 campaign which cost coach Jason Demetriou his job.

They’ve had to deal with serious injuries to key men with Campbell Graham, Jai Arrow and Junior Tatola headlining their casualty ward, while the Latrell Mitchell saga dragged on for more than a month and must have been a distraction at times.

Wayne Bennett will return to the club next year and will hopefully get Mitchell back on track, and while the injured brigade will return, the master coach will have to do it all without club legends Cook and Burgess.

“The ladder is usually pretty fair after the 27 rounds, so we can’t really argue with that,” Hornby said following the 36-28 defeat.

“I think you’ve seen that we’ve put in a lot of good efforts. When we had a side that was close to doing what we were capable of, we were winning games.

“Next year, I can’t see why if we’re not somewhere near our full-strength side that we won’t be winning games.

“We’ve got a lot of really, really good players missing at the moment, so if we get those guys back and do the right thing, the wins will take care of themselves.”

Originally published as Rabbitohs farewell seven players as Wayne Bennett re-build begins