NRL legend Matty Johns has called for a radical shakeup at the South Sydney Rabbitohs if their early-season struggles continue.
Johns called for high-profile recruit Jack Wighton to partner Cody Walker in the halves if Walker and halfback Lachlan Ilias fail to connect.
“For whatever reason if the combination of Lachie (Ilias) and Cody (Walker) doesn’t work… I’d have serious consideration about putting Jack Wighton into 6, Cody into 7,” Johns said on SEN’s The Run Home with Joel and Fletch.
“Lachie could be playing outstanding and they go 'mate, this is just not working at the moment'… you wouldn’t replace the combination of Cody and Lachie with a like for like combination. You’d go for a completely different style and so you’d probably look at Cody and Wighton.”
Wighton joined the Rabbitohs in 2024 on a four-year deal from the Canberra Raiders, having played 242 NRL games, 10 Origin games for NSW, and represented Australia on seven occasions.
Pressure continues to mount on South Sydney, who are regarded as premiership contenders in 2024, after two losses to start the season and a mid-season collapse last year which saw them miss the finals.
“My criticism about Souths is that the fact that they trust their attack too much, they don’t pour enough energy into their defence at times, and they get a bit one-dimensional,” Johns said.
“I still think their best football is when the focal point of their attack is Cookie (Damian Cook), (Cameron) Murray starts punching through, they start to win the forward battle, and they centralise their attack more.”
Ilias and Walker again struggled to lead South Sydney to victory overnight, losing to the Brisbane Broncos 28-18. This compounded their opening round to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Las Vegas.
The Rabbitohs will look to turn their fortunes around next week against the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.