South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou could be entering the final week of his job as reports emerged overnight stating that if his side was to lose this weekend against the Cronulla Sharks, his tenure at the club would be over.
Demetriou has struggled over the past 12 months to keep his side in consistent form and has been on the hot seat for large parts of that time period.
After dramatically missing the finals last year, Souths have struggled to start 2024, managing just one win from the first five matches.
Demetriou has copped the majority of the blame for his side’s performances on the field and barring a miraculous turnaround on Saturday night, he looks set to lose his job.
SENQ’s Corey Parker believes Demetriou’s reign as Souths’ head coach is heading to an end and confidently stated what he thinks will happen in the weeks to follow.
“There’ll be an interim coach and that’ll be Ben Hornby,” Parker told SENQ Mornings.
“Mark these words here, write down the date and time, Wayne Bennett will be the coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs next year.
“He’ll be there along with Sam Burgess the year after and then they move on.
“I can’t see it working any other way with what’s going on there at Souths, Wayne’s got a great relationship there, Wayne left the place in great order, he knows the playing group.
“Is it just going to be a temporary Band-Aid for what’s going on there? Maybe, there’s probably a conversation to be had there.”
Burgess, a club legend, departed the club under controversial circumstances last year after an apparent rift between Demetriou and himself led him to return to his native England where he took up the role of head coach of the Warrington Wolves.
“Sam Burgess signed a two-year deal overseas, at the end of next year that’ll be up,” Parker added.
“Wayne will take control until then, and I believe Sam will come back, I just can’t see it any other way.
“Potentially (Burgess) could patch things up, I’ve got no doubt under the tutelage of Wayne, that would be able to happen now.
“If Wayne was going to be head coach next year and let’s say what I’m saying is correct and Sam was to come back, I’ve got no doubt Wayne would still be involved in the club and overseeing that as a coach directing type thing.
“It would still be all ok in that regard, however, there is a conversation to be had and you read between the lines, Sam’s not there, there’s a reason he’s not there, he wasn’t happy with the standards and what was going on there, and rightly so because as we sit here now, we all alluded to it but it seems to be true.”
Demetriou will be fighting for his job when the Rabbitohs host the Sharks at Accor Stadium on Saturday night.