South Sydney has resolved to sack head coach Jason Demetriou no matter what happens in the Rabbitohs vs. Sharks game on Saturday, with the club already hard at work trimming down a shortlist of six replacements.
Michael Maguire and Ben Hornby are among the leading candidates, with Fox Sports also reporting that Mal Meninga is a shock top priority.
Download Our FREE NRL App Here
Souths powerbrokers made the call on Demetriou in a meeting this week, with the fact that the Rabbitohs have the bye after their Cronulla Sharks meeting in round six a big part of the decision; any interim coach will get an extra week’s grace period to get their ducks in order before facing Penrith and Melbourne.
The Sporting Base understands Demetriou has already been told about the decision.
The Rabbitohs have slumped to a 1-4 start in the 2024 NRL season, conceding a huge 162 points in their opening five games, and chat around Demetriou has only built as the losses continued mounting up. Sportsbet is now paying $1.22 for the club to miss finals.
It’s no surprise the iconic Sydney club is at panic stations, especially considering how highly tipped they were to challenge for a title around the NRL world. For the record, this The Sporting Base writer actually tipped the Bunnies to finish outside the top eight in the site’s preseason previews—but even I didn’t expect the fall to be this comprehensive.
Enter Our Weekly $250 NRL Tipping Comp Here
Meninga has yet to officially accept anything behind the scenes, but if he does take up the temporary Souths job he could be a steady hand to at least stabilise the team until the end of the year.
