South Sydney faces a summer of upheaval with Wayne Bennett returning to the club after his protégé Jason Demetriou was axed following a disastrous run of form.
The Bunnies lingered near the bottom of the ladder for the entire season as they experienced a huge fall from grace which forced them into recruiting the master coach once again.
Bennett has already got his fingerprints all over the roster at Redfern with a mass of players leaving and a number coming in.
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Damien Cook has been the major casualty of Bennett’s arrival with the veteran hooker released from the final year of his deal in order to join St George Illawarra.
The dummy-half position is one of the main positions under the microscope at the club, along with the halves.
Cody Walker and Lachlan Ilias started the campaign as the first-choice pairing, however after poor form and results which carried over from 2023, Ilias was dropped by Demetriou.
A procession of combinations was then fielded by the Bunnies for the rest of the year, with Dean Hawkins the first cab off the rank.
Although the local junior managed just six games before he was struck down by a long-term quad injury.
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In his time in the casualty ward alongside Ilias - who had his season prematurely ended after he suffered a leg injury in the NSW Cup - the Bunnies found some form with Jack Wighton partnering Walker.
The club also announced Bennett’s arrival during this time, while they signed playmaker Lewis Dodd from St Helens on a long-term deal, before Jaime Humphreys’ arrival from Manly was confirmed as well.
Amidst the influx of talent in the halves, Souths have revealed that Hawkins has played his last game for the club with Michael Chee Kam, Dion Teaupa, Izaac Thompson, Leon Te Hau and Richard Kennar also leaving.
No NRL rival has yet been linked to the 24-year-old playmaker who finishes with 14 career appearances for the Bunnies since debuting in 2021.
