Jason Demetriou’s time in charge of South Sydney has come to a premature end just nine weeks into the new season and five months after he inked a two-year contract extension at the club.
His sacking was confirmed by the club on Tuesday evening.
Jason Demetriou sacked: Why South Sydney Rabbitohs coach was fired
Demetriou took over from Wayne Bennett at the Rabbitohs after previously serving as his right-hand man during the side’s surge to the grand final in 2021.
He became head coach of the beaten grand finalists the following season but faced a changing of the guard with Adam Reynolds allowed to depart to Brisbane and Lachlan Ilias installed as his long-term successor.
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He guided the Bunnies to their fifth straight preliminary final during his first year in charge, gaining plaudits for the side’s attractive attacking style.
And despite suffering an agonising 32-12 loss to Penrith in the prelim, Demetriou appeared that he had picked his team up off the canvas when they started last season on fire, winning eight of their first 11 matches to sit on top of the ladder.
However, a mixture of poor form, Origin commitments, injuries and suspension saw this positive start soon go up in smoke as they went on to lose nine of their final 13 matches.
The severe drop in form saw them sensationally slide out of the top eight altogether and ensure plenty of pressure was applied to Demetriou’s tenure heading into this year.
This situation was only further exacerbated by the stormy end to Sam Burgess’ time at Redfern when the club legend exited - along with fellow assistant John Morris - at the backend of last season following a disagreement with Demetriou.
Burgess’ departure was reportedly linked to his disapproval of star players in the Bunnies’ ranks being given preferential treatment by the head coach.
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However, any hopes of a reversal of fortunes have soon been put to bed with South Sydney letting a second half lead slip against Manly in their Las Vegas opener, before two more losses followed.
The third one in this sequence was a dismal 48-6 battering at the hands of their bitter rivals, the Sydney Roosters.
Despite recording a narrow win over the Bulldogs on Good Friday to finally get their campaign up and running, another heavy defeat was inflicted upon them by the New Zealand Warriors in Round 5.
The Bunnies descent into the abyss complete as they plunged to last place on the ladder for the first time in 14 years.
They have now lost 15 of their last 22 matches, with losing becoming a habit they have been unable to shake.
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The club released a statement on Tuesday evening.
"South Sydney Rabbitohs have terminated the coaching contract of head coach Jason Demetriou today, effective immediately," the statement read.
"Following a meeting of the football club board, in conjunction with club management, it has been decided that the club needs to go in a new direction with its coaching following a less-than-satisfactory series of results over the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly also gave his well wishes to Demetriou.
“The board and management feel that now is the time to make a change to the leadership of our football program in terms of the head coaching role," he said.
"There is no doubting Jason’s work ethic or his drive for success, but unfortunately that success has not been forthcoming over the past 12 months.
"We wish Jason, his wife Natalie and his daughters the very best of luck in the future and we thank him for his service to our Club over the past five-and-a-half years."
Who will take over from Jason Demetriou as head coach of South Sydney?
Upon signing his contract extension late last year, the club noted Demetriou would have "a more hands-on coaching role from 2024 onwards, taking control of the team's defence".
Yet this ended in disaster with the Bunnies conceding 35 points per game on average across their first seven matches of 2024.
Their defence was the worst in the league after leaking 250 points, while their attack fared little better with only the Tigers scoring less than their 114 points.
Around this same stage last year, the Bunnies had won just two of their first five games although they had the fifth-best defence at this time which provided the springboard for their rise up the ladder.
However, there was simply no sign of such a turnaround occurring this time with David Furner's addition to the coaching staff the final nail in Demetriou's coffin.
Furner was initially considered the most likely to take over on an interim basis.
However, it has been confirmed that assistant coach Ben Hornby will take the reins at the Bunnies for the remainder of the 2024 campaign.
