When Wayne Bennett left the South Sydney Rabbitohs to help kickstart the Dolphins, the team had just narrowly lost the 2021 grand final.
As he returns three years later, they are coming off a 16th placed finish, avoiding the wooden spoon by one single win.
Clearly, Bennett has plenty of work to do to return the team to where it was, and he is starting with a major shakeup to the team's key spine players.
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Wayne Bennett set to shake up Rabbitohs' star positions
It's fair to say that whatever the Rabbitohs have been doing up to this point hasn't worked, with the team bombing out of the 2024 season despite having one of the most talented rosters on paper.
But according to the Daily Telegraph, Bennett is moving quickly to move key players around, with the super coach reportedly moving Lachlan Ilias to hooker to make way for new halfback Lewis Dodd.
While he will have a chance to retain his number seven jersey, Damien Cook's departure leaves an open slot at dummy half, and while Peter Mamouzelos will get the first look at it, Ilias will likely contend for the back-up, in the event that his exploration of the NRL market does not yield a move.
Ilias will reportedly battle current back-up number nine Jamie Humphrey for this spot, but it seems that he will have his work cut out for him if he wants to stay in the top 13 for South Sydney this season under Bennett, especially coming off of a broken leg.
