As the South Sydney board mulled over the future of Jason Demetriou on Tuesday, co-owner Russell Crowe contacted the coach to tell him: “I’ve got your back”.
Hours later the board unanimously voted in favour of an immediate termination of Demetriou’s contract, ending the coach’s tenure at the club and in the process highlighted the dilution of Crowe’s influence and sway at his beloved South Sydney.
The reality is, for the 48 hours prior to Demetriou’s arrival at the club’s Maroubra headquarters on Tuesday morning, the coach knew he was a dead man walking.
On Sunday morning, as the dust settled on yet another South Sydney loss that left the Bunnies stranded at the bottom of the NRL ladder, Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly called a meeting with the coach.
Solly, fighting in some ways to save his own job amid an uproar from fans over the predicament of the football club that he was presiding over, summoned Demetriou to inform him that he no longer believed he was the right man for the job.
Solly wanted Demetriou to know that the 54-20 Anzac Day shellacking at the hands of the Melbourne Storm last Thursday would likely be the last game he coached at the club.
Jason Demetriou on his way out of Heffron Park on Tuesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
He was about to send a recommendation to the club’s directors to terminate the coach’s contract ahead of a scheduled board meeting on Tuesday morning that would decide his fate. It was a recommendation endorsed by all the heads of the football department.
What Solly relayed to the board was a growing concern over the deterioration of the form of a once-formidable football team. That minor issues were too fast becoming big problems, and the coach didn’t have the answers to fix them.
Demetriou, though, did not die wondering. He spent every spare minute between Solly’s conversation on Sunday and Tuesday’s board meeting preparing a written proposal that he wanted to submit to the board before they deliberated over his future.
He arrived at Heffron Park just before 7am on Tuesday morning, an hour before the board meeting was scheduled to start, and put the finishing touches to a document that he provided to three directors, outlining a thorough proposal as to why he should be given another eight weeks to prove he was still the right man for the job.
Ex-South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou and CEO Blake Solly in August last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The document, which had to later be shared to all members of the board after the commencement of the meeting, was an assessment of the season so far and a breakdown of what he planned to implement over the coming weeks to turn the team’s fortunes around.
The coach highlighted the impact injuries to the likes of Campbell Graham, Jai Arrow and Tyrone Munro has had on the team, compounded by suspensions to the likes of Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell.
How a pre-season hampered by injury has limited the impact of Cody Walker and Damien Cook over the opening two months of the competition.
In his submission he outlined the improvements he planned to make to the game style and adjustments to fast-track the development of some of the club’s young players.
Jason Demetriou will be paid out nine months’ salary as part of his termination.Credit: Nick Moir
In a boardroom overlooking the training session Demetriou was presiding over, most directors struggled to comprehend how another eight weeks would help change what an entire pre-season should have fixed. Some, though, wanted to give him another month to turn things around.
Crowe, having made a pledge to Demetriou to help prolong what seemed like the inevitable, wanted his representatives on the board to fight against the immediate termination of the coach. They argued for four more weeks. Then it was two.
With chairman Nick Pappas in London chairing the meeting over Zoom at 2am, and the directors at an impasse, it was agreed that they would reconvene in six hours’ time (5pm Sydney time).
Most of the board members walked straight out the club’s front doors and past the cameras. Keith Rodger, a representative of part-owner Crowe on the board, plonked himself inside the facility’s cafe before the Herald interrupted in the hope of gaining an understanding of why the board had still not reached a decision.
Russell Crowe watching the Rabbitohs play against and Roosters in 2021.Credit: Getty Images
He quickly scurried back up to the club’s offices before he and fellow Crowe-appointed director Mikael Borglund were later spotted escaping through the loading dock and away from cameramen who wouldn’t have known they had missed them if they had walked straight past them.
The directors, in between board meetings, informed the respective owners they represented of what had transpired in the meeting.
In that time, the coach made his way out of the building, unaware if he would ever return. Four hours later, over a video conference that ran almost two hours, the directors unanimously decided the Demetriou era at South Sydney was over.
The board already had their concerns over the development of the club’s young players, including halfback Lachlan Ilias, and a perception the coach was unwilling to invest in youth.
Tallis Duncan is one of the young players the club feels should have been given more of a run in 2024.Credit: Getty
Another example of their frustration was the coach’s refusal to play young hooker Peter Mamouzelos over the opening four rounds despite an off-season undertaking to use him as part of a two-pronged hooker attack alongside Damien Cook.
The selection of young gun Tallis Duncan as 18th man, and not in the team, an hour before the board reconvened proved the final nail in the coffin.
Solly left the room and contacted Demetriou to inform him of his fate, resulting in a $360,000 termination payout (nine months’ salary). His reaction was as classy as the message he sent his players in the aftermath of his demise.
“Hey lads, just a quick note from me to let you know sadly I have been sacked,” Demetriou wrote on the team’s noticeboard app. “Being your head coach has been an absolute privilege and being part of many of your professional journeys over the 5.5 years has been a blessing.
“Watching you make your debuts, hit milestones and become young fathers are memories I will forever cherish.
“As your head coach and assistant coach I’m grateful for the memories on and off the field. The run to the 2022 final series and pre lim [sic] alongside the pre-season and transition to Heffron in 2023 was a great highlight.
“That feeling in the change rooms that led us to the top of the NRL ladder less than a year ago was some of the greatest experiences of my career. I’m sure this team is destined for more of those memories. Blessings to you and your beautiful families. JD.”
The next phone call from Solly was to assistant coach Ben Hornby, who was told that he, not the newly-arrived David Furner, would be taking over the team for the rest of the season based on the recommendation of the chief executive.
Ben Hornby on his way out of South Sydney training on Tuesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Solly believed the rapport Hornby had with the players made him a more attractive proposition than parachuting Furner into the hot seat.
The board also held lengthy discussions about what they do in 2025 and beyond.
The club has already planted a seed with Wayne Bennett and the smart money is on the veteran coach to return to the club he previously led to two preliminary finals and one grand final before handing over control of the reins to Demetriou in 2022 to join the Dolphins.
Not all at South Sydney are convinced he’s the right option, but no one on the board raised opposition to the notion of him returning to the club, either.
South Sydney’s five-man shortlist: Wayne Bennett, Michael Cheika, Michael Maguire, Steve McNamara and Justin Holbrook.Credit: Kate Geraghty, Oscar Colman, Getty Images
Bennett now sits atop a five-man shortlist that is expected to include Sydney Roosters assistant coach Justin Holbrook, Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara, former South Sydney premiership-winner and current NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire and ex-Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
Maguire holds a special place in the heart of some of South Sydney’s directors, having previously led the club to a drought-breaking premiership in 2014, although not everyone is convinced that his coaching methodology is the right fit for the football team.
Cheika coached Lebanon at the 2022 World Cup and impressed on his way to the quarter-finals. McNamara, who previously worked under Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters, has also worked with Solly during his time as England coach a decade ago.
Other left-field options include England coach Shaun Wane and Super League coach Adrian Lam. The club will also monitor what happens with under pressure Eels coach Brad Arthur in the coming weeks as speculation over his future intensifies.
The club is also of the opinion that Sam Burgess, who still has one more year to run on his deal at Warrington Wolves in the Super League, is only keen on signing a one-year extension at the club.
Warrington bosses are delighted with how Burgess has started his coaching career and have held informal discussions about extending his deal and have been told that Burgess is only open to a 12-month extension.
That would allow him the ability to take over from Bennett, one of Burgess’ closest confidants, at the Rabbitohs in 2027.
Rabbitohs general manager of rugby league Mark Ellison is currently in England as part of a trip to sign St Helens halfback Lewis Dodd for next season, while also searching for a front-rower.
He is also expected to begin speaking to some of the respective coaching candidates in the coming days.
First, though, Solly will have to address the playing group on Wednesday morning to inform them of the reasons why their coach isn’t overseeing captain’s run ahead of their clash with Penrith on Thursday night. He will follow that up with a media conference.
The questions will start at ‘why’ but will quickly turn to ‘who’. Over the next couple of weeks the club will go through a process of speaking to all the potential candidates.
Conversations with Bennett have already begun. Perhaps the question isn’t who, but when?
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.