It is difficult to believe that Jason Demetriou will be unemployed by Sunday night, and without a coaching role of any description in the NRL for the first time in nearly a decade.
Demetriou was in the NRL coach of the year conversation in 2022 when he took South Sydney to a preliminary final in just his first season in charge. Midway through last year, the Bunnies were humming at the top of the NRL ladder after 11 rounds.
Such is the cut-throat nature of coaching, Souths tanked and missed the 2023 finals, then a spluttering start to this season meant the club was left with no option but to sack their coach.
Only a select few at South Sydney will ever know why things went so badly so quickly for Demetriou.
The sacking of Sam Burgess – who believed Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker had too much sway at the club – is the easiest public narrative.
But Demetriou has taken the time to reset, and has reminded everyone during the past month why he got the Rabbbitohs job in the first place.
Jason Demetriou runs the media gauntlet during his messy departure from South Sydney.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Papua New Guinea were expected to be easy-beats in the Pacific Championships. Sure, the country is set to get an NRL franchise, and rugby league is a religion with the locals, but key injuries meant this campaign was expected to be about rebuilding.
There was no Alex Johnston because of injury, no Edwin Ipape, no Justin Olam, no Zac Laybutt, while Xavier Coates jumped at the chance to represent Australia.
Demetriou handed debuts to Ila Alu, Koso Bandi, Robert Mathias and Elijah Roltinga. The real masterstroke was shifting Nene Macdonald to fullback where he finished with two man-of-the-match awards. And then there is the confidence regained by Morea Morea, a youngster many believe will be the face of the game in a few years in his homeland.
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The Kumuls stunned a stacked Fiji side, defeated the Cook Islands and will start $9 outsiders against New Zealand at CommBank Stadium on Sunday in the consolation final. No one will give the Kumuls a chance, but Demetriou has done a remarkable job to get them this far.
Demetriou has no intentions of becoming another head coach that could have been. He is still on the right side of 50.
“I’m a footy coach, it’s what I am, and I’m just enjoying coaching again. It’s a pleasure to be involved with this group,” was all Demetriou would say when asked about his future.
“My deal [with PNG] expires at the end of this campaign, so we’ll see what happens from there. I just want to be in the moment.”
A lot of coaching is about man management. Demetriou has the players believing their style can match it with any team. He also knows the only way the players will improve is by regularly competing against the best.
“I think the players are starting to believe there’s potential to develop, but we can only do that if we test ourselves against tier-one countries,” Demetriou said.
“We haven’t played New Zealand since the 2013 World Cup. Nene is the only guy who has played against the Kiwis. We just have to put our best foot forward and make the country proud.”
If they can do that, it might just land Demetriou a job, too.
The Pacific Championships is Live and free on Channel 9 & 9Now