It’s now or never for Jason Demetriou. But how did it get to this?

When Sam Burgess walked out of South Sydney with one game to go in their season last year, leaving the club in turmoil, Rabbitohs officials were quietly confident the team would lift in response for their do-or-die final-round match against bitter rivals, the Roosters. They did not.

When Latrell Mitchell gave an expletive-laden radio interview after their round-two loss in Brisbane last month and coach Jason Demetriou’s position was called into question, Rabbitohs officials were quietly optimistic their team would revive their season, again in a crunch clash against the Roosters. They were humiliated 48-6.

When South Sydney, anchored to the bottom of the ladder after five rounds, run onto Accor Stadium against the Sharks on Saturday night, Demetriou knows a third strike, if his players fail to lift for him and the embattled club, and he might be out.

While many consider Demetriou – whose pre-match press conference lasted just 27 seconds on Friday – has only 80 minutes to save his job, Rabbitohs chairman Nick Pappas denied a loss would be the end of the coach’s reign at South Sydney.

“We’re not going to make any rash decisions,” Pappas told this masthead. “The proof is going to be in the pudding – and the pudding is the way the team plays. It’s not going to be measured just in wins and losses.

“It’s looking for newfound confidence, newfound stability, rebound determination to win, rebound resilience to win – all these qualities we had that we’ve progressively lost. If that starts to be rediscovered, then obviously we will give Jason time.

“We will give Jason all the time he needs, and my hope is he will see out his contract [until the end of 2026]. That’s what I would like to see and that’s what the board and investors want to see.”

But what is plain to see is the Rabbitohs have been in freefall for almost 12 months.

South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou.Credit: Steven Siewert

In a horror run stretching back to Indigenous Round last year, Demetriou’s side has won only five of 18 games and have gone from top of the 2023 standings to missing the finals, and now last in the early stages of this season. Their only wins have been against the Titans, Warriors, Wests Tigers, Dragons and Bulldogs. Of those teams, only the Warriors didn’t finish in the bottom four last season.

It’s hard to fathom it all started going wrong for the coach in a round which means so much to the Pride of the League, as Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses put on a masterclass as the Eels rattled off the last four tries of the match.

So, how did it come to this for the Rabbitohs, with Demetriou fighting for his future just two years after taking over from Wayne Bennett?

“No one wants to terminate coaches,” Pappas says. “It’s not pleasant for anyone involved. We do that very much as a last resort. If Saturday night is gallant and shows the resilience I referred to, then we will give Jason time.

“If, however, some of the symptoms we’ve seen perpetuate over the next few weeks, then we have to do some hard thinking. I don’t think that would come as a surprise to anyone. We can’t sit on our hands forever.”

This masthead reported earlier this week the Rabbitohs have sounded out Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga about taking over in a caretaker capacity until the end of year, with out-of-contract Bennett being lined up for a return to South Sydney in 2025.

Meninga admitted on SEN he has “an interest” in the position, but Pappas said any possible third-party approach to Meninga on behalf of the Rabbitohs was not sanctioned by the board or management.

“I know what goes on in my boardroom and I can assure you there has been no discussions of Mal or anyone else in some sort of caretaker capacity because it’s totally premature,” he says.

But it’s hard to see how the harsh lessons of missing the finals last year – dumped out of the competition by bitter rivals the Roosters – have been learnt in 2024.

Speaking to the media straight after that match, Demetriou said, “I’ll hold my hands up.” Burgess had just walked out on South Sydney as an assistant to Demetriou, dismayed at what he thought were slipping standards in which stars such as Mitchell and Walker were treated differently.

When Burgess vented his feelings, he was reminded the club had stood behind him as its star player through various off-field scandals and on-field transgressions. His retort was simple: every time he walked onto the field, he spilt blood for the club.

Burgess has led Warrington to second spot after the opening seven Super League rounds, and this week Wolves chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick confirmed Burgess intended to see out his two-year deal, even if the South Sydney job became available.

Sam Burgess leaves Rabbitohs headquarters after quitting the club as assistant coach last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty

In an interview with this masthead, Fitzpatrick says of Burgess: “There’s no bull---- with him. I asked him about his philosophy per se [when looking for a coach], and he didn’t really have one. He just said, ‘I want players to work hard, I get them to buy into a cause and a vision’. There was no fluffiness with him. There was no strategic plan.

“You can see he’s a winner and a leader of men. The response he’s had from the players when he’s speaking to them, they’re hanging off every single word he says. They want to run through a brick wall for him.”

But Rabbitohs officials are now questioning: will their own players run through a brick wall for Demetriou?

The day Burgess publicly walked out on the Rabbitohs, South Sydney’s rivals, Wests Tigers, announced within hours another of Demetriou’s assistants, defence coach John Morris, was to join Benji Marshall’s coaching team.

The deal had been done for days, but the Tigers cheekily opted to add fuel to the fire at Heffron Park (Morris has since led the Tigers’ rapid turnaround in defence while Demetriou himself focused on South Sydney’s defence, which is the worst in the NRL after five rounds of this season).

If Burgess thought the Rabbitohs weren’t working hard enough, then maybe they overcompensated during the pre-season, perhaps sensing the coach needed a fast start to keep the wolves at bay.

Star recruit Jack Wighton missed the pre-season challenge with a calf injury and Origin five-eighth Walker battled to be fit for the Las Vegas season opener with a similar injury.

Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter freely said members of Wighton and Walker’s camp had feared their injuries were a result of a brutal summer, which Demetriou recognised as crucial to the team’s fast start, and by extension securing his own future.

But whatever fitness benefits he wanted, it hasn’t shown on the field so far.

According to Champion Data, in their five matches so far this season, the Rabbitohs have been outscored in the final 20 minutes of the first and second halves on every occasion. No other team has such a dismal record when players are at their most fatigued, and only the Titans have a worse overall record in second halves.

Having grown tired with the on-field antics of Latrell Mitchell, this week the club sought assurances he was still committed to rugby league and South Sydney, who will be without him for the next three matches after he was suspended for elbowing Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson in the head.

Asked whether Mitchell had allayed the club’s concerns, Pappas said: “For the moment, yes. But we’ll have to see if those reassurances and commitments that were given by Latrell will be followed through.

Latrell Mitchell has been suspended for three matches after elbowing Shaun Johnson.Credit: Getty

“We’re very protective of Latrell because he has a huge amount of pressure on him every day and every minute of his walking life. We’re cognisant of that. On the other hand, he’s a very highly paid player who has to perform. That’s the deal. He has the ability, and he has the intelligence.”

The decision to bring Mitchell’s close friend Wighton to the club has been a polarising one; Wighton has been one of their best since returning from suspension three weeks ago, but his huge salary has left them little space to accommodate a forward enforcer they desperately need.

Having watched Hame Sele leave for the Dragons, South Sydney signed Sean Keppie, who was unwanted by Manly and has struggled to make an impact so far.

But for Pappas, Demetriou has time to right the wrongs of the past nine months.

“My speaking to you is done with the intent to allay fears that we’re fragmented and divided based on all these nonsensical quotes I have heard in the media from people who are very much on the outside,” Pappas says.

“Within, the club is very much quite settled and focused. That for me is a good sign. If it bears fruit, well and good. If it doesn’t, we’ll deal with it.

“But we’re not going to deal with it now, we’ll just wait and see how the next few weeks unfold and then we’ll make a decision.”

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