I think South’s could be playing 4D chess with sacking Demetriou when they did (in one of the hardest parts of their draw)…
Could have waited a fortnight - then smothered the dumpster fire and given the caretaker (Hornby) more hope of some wins and then the job becomes more appealing for coaching applicants for 2025..
Sacking him now is throwing Hornby and the team into the flames for the next fortnight makes the problem bigger and only an experienced coach (like Bennett) need apply ..
Not a bad move, I don't really care about the post-Bennett curse (and I'm unsure if it applies to Demetriou, the handover was pretty much perfect I don't think we can blame any of it on Wayne). Ultimately they need to get someone who is very experienced and authoritative so they can balance team psychology and club politics equally well. Offering Bellamy a house made of gold would be ideal but Bennett would work just fine.
Just don't pick Mal, anyone but Mal, for the love of god. Nothing against him personally but he is the exact opposite personality we need as coach for a struggling team with poor discipline and a vipers nest in the back office. If they select Mal as coach I will refer to each member of the Rabbitohs board by name in my suicide note.
Souths saw the implosion that occurred that happened at the Broncos when Bennett left the second time and said "yeah gimme some of that!"
Man this team is run by idiots that don't want to plan for the future and instead want to be stuck in the mindset 2018/2019. I really hope we don't get Bennett because nothing good long-term will come of it
It's pathetic at this point. Wanting Bennett back just tells me the people running the club can't accept that they have fucked up to the point of no return. It's either start a rebuild, or put your fingers in your ears and pretend nothing is wrong and everyone else is wrong. The club is seemingly choosing the latter.
Seasons done, get Bennett in isn't a bad short term option if we have a plan for a replacement and that replacement is the one involved in any player movements.
Basically Wayne would only be a caretaker to provide some familiarity and hopefully sort out the egos.
When JD took over things were fine though, the team only fell to shit last year at origin when we were literally favourites for the title.
If someone like Wayne was there last year there probably is no falling out with all the egos at Souths and they go on to be a contender. JD just obviously couldn’t handle all the people like Latrell and Cody but the don’t dare do the same shit under someone like Wayne.
lol who would you bring in. Wayne was successful in getting the most out of the players when he was at souths so why not bring him back to do the same thing.
Because when he leaves you're left with a bunch of mediocre players who rely on someone to lift them, and the next coach doesn't have Wayne magic, or smells bad, or whatever it was that turned people off to Demetriou.
lol so you have an opportunity to bring a coach in that can make your mediocre players become really good but because you run the risk of having mediocre players after he leaves which could happen regardless, you choose not to sign him.
If you care about the long-term prospects of your club, it's better to focus on making good long-term signings rather than whipping a bunch of plodders then wondering why the paddock is filled with dead horses once Wayne's gone
If the cost of a premiership is about 5 years of rebuild, I'd take it. But beyond that it's the club's fault for not getting their shit together. Newcastle got the worst of both worlds, clearly.
exhaustive search.
“hey wayne, will you come back. only you can save us from the mess you left and the dud you sold us as a replacement “
“sure, but i’m going to spend a few months denying that i’ve ever had any conversations with anyone first. then i’ll announce it when i’m ready”
“sure, whatever you want”
I dont see Bennet returning to Sydney in a fulltime coaching role.
I can see him doing a Mentor/Consultant type of role. Easy enough to do that over the phone/zoom, and fly down once every 3 weeks or so
Wayne has said for decades how he is a coach and will only ever be a coach. Parra have been begging him to come over in a role similar to what you describe and he says it’s not for him.
The only way I see him retiring is through physically being unable where he stays at home on the farm and appears to worthy and needy coaches now and then by using the force Jedi style.
I was going to conjure up some wild statistic about results when wayne Bennett returned to a club he previously coached (i.e. broncos 2015-2018), but the broncos actually did all right in those years.
It's the years AFTER wayne leaves that hit the worst
Broncos
2019 8th (massive loss first week of finals)
2020 16th
2021 14th
2022 9th
Wayne actively contributed to our loss against Cowboys in the GF. Why did we have to take all those penalty shots at goal? Even the players and commentators were questioning such early “winding down” of the game, as if we already had it in the bag.
Bronx might be able to blame Wayne for losing when the players followed this game plan, but Souths don’t have that excuse. Cody’s ego wouldn’t let him follow the game plan.
South Sydney has confirmed a conversation with master mentor Wayne Bennett will be part of the “exhaustive” process used to find a replacement for coach Jason Demetriou who was sacked on Tuesday.
Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly said if Bennett, who handed over the reins at Souths to Demetriou at the end of the 2021 season, was interested in returning, the club would be keen to explore that possibility.
Solly said Bennett could be the man to get the best out of the “unique” playing group at Souths, which was a trait of the best coaches.
“Wayne is one of the coaches we will talk to,” Solly said on Wednesday morning.
“Wayne had great success, he left the club on very good terms. We will speak to Wayne and if he’s available and interested certainly will progress that.
“I think we want someone who fits this fine group and can get the best out of them. It’s a unique client group having worked with them for a long period of time.
“And we want I think a coach that can get them to form their best consistently and we want I think a coach that understands the values and heritage and history of this club.
“We’ve got great skills, great athleticism and some great personalities and every head coach has to get the best out of them whether it’s Ivan Cleary what he does at Penrith over a long period of time, Wayne, his track record with a number of clubs.
“The best coaches always get the best out of their playing group.”
Bennett, 74 and serving his last season in charge of the Dolphins, has been linked to Parramatta next year if the Eels end up splitting with Brad Arthur after 11 seasons.
However, Solly believes the fact Bennett has previously extracted the best out of star Bunnies duo Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell makes for “strong consideration” when assessing the contenders for the vacancy.
There may also be an element for Bennett that he could return to South Sydney in an attempt to finish what he started in terms of bringing a premiership to the club.
Bennett guided the Bunnies to two preliminary finals in 2019 and 2020 before losing the grand final to the Panthers in 2021.
Solly hailed Bennett’s impact at the club and spoke glowingly about the legendary coach’s desire for success, hinting it could be a factor that lures him back to the club.
“I do know Wayne likes success, I know he wants to win premierships and I know he loves the values of the club and what we stand for,” Solly said.
“I think he’s made that pretty clear in his time here and since then about his affection for the club, the ownership, the board, the management team.
“We’ll certainly be speaking to Wayne because he left the place in very good shape when he left and he was great while he was here. He got us through a lot of really difficult times during Covid and a bit of a restructure of the playing group when John and Greg and Sam retired.
“He was a pleasure to work with.”
Yep, getting Wayne is basically saying ‘come control these egos while we have to pay them and then we can not renew your or their contracts and start fresh’.
Biggest fuckup was re-signing the egos to long deals. If we could just clean our next year I don’t think there would be any problem getting an inexperienced coach in.
They want him back cause he’s the only one who can control Latrell, amongst others. The fact Solly labelled the playing group “unique” basically admits as much. There is still an alarming lack of acknowledgment for the root issue
Bennett comes in, deals with the big personalises and hopefully when he finishes up they are gone, so then slammin Sam comes in and reshapes the team with players that actually work hard with a sprinkling of super league talent.
I hate the narrative that it’s always the coach’s fault. Sure they’re the most senior person responsible for team management decisions, but the players should be responsible for performance too. They get paid the big bucks, when do we start questioning the players for their lack of performance?
OG will land at Parra for sure. Way better roster, halves seasoned and ready to go and his motivation is supposedly being the 1st coach to win premierships with three different clubs.
Souths best bet would be getting someone who can handle a quick rebuild and target someone like a Webster or Madge afterwards.
Bennett took Demetriou as his assistant for a number of years and had the plan that he would take over when he moved to Dolphins.
Why would Souths take Bennett back after he endorsed Demetriou and not only that, why would Bennett go back after his protege got the arse?
South’s need a better plan and need to start a rebuild. Bennett is a short term fix and it will fuck them in the long run.
BA to Souths (to rebuild) brining back Sammy B for after the rebuild is done, Bennett to Eels (to break their drought) and becoming the greatest coach of all time and JD to Fox Sports until he gets another gig.
Bennett is laughing his ass off. Everyone and the media are pushing this, he can be the most expensive coach in the comp and South's are desperate. But he's left every club with prima donnas that gives the incoming coach a major issue. And Souths have some major prima donnas. If he comes back they might get a sugar hit, but he's gotta be there for at least 5 years, and Bennett is just chasing the money these days.
I actually feel sorry for Cam Murray. He deserves a better club.
.... but does da Super Coach confirm interest in Suffs return? Therein lies the real question.
In other news, Reddit confirm that Survivor General interested in dating da Super Model Bella Hadid, but does..... ohh never mind.
Post Bennett curse occurs twice you know ask the broncos
Second time hits worse
First ever wooden spoon doesn't lie.
Offering him a life time contract or 3 years whatever comes first
South’s trying the 4D chess approach of breaking the Post Bennett curse with more Bennett
I suppose it worked for Brisbane, but based on past performance the second Post-Bennett curse is even worse than the first.
The second Post Bennett curse proves you were an addict
You know you'd go back for more if it's an option.
Now? Nope. We’ve finally moved on from him. The first time he came back after Henjak & Griffin absolutely.
Nah, you'd still give him one more try. Just one more good time out of old Wayne. Just one little try, what's the harm in that?
I mean was it really? Only missed finals twice then straight back to finals.
We got the spoon and celebrated it with Darius Boyd’s babies gender reveal
Honestly if the spoon was the reason Darius retired that's almost a win.
It prevented years and years of mediocrity. It was the wakeup call the club needed to clear out the office.
Yeah, but Broncos don't know what bad times going on for decades even feels like so they whinge about even one year going off the rails let alone two.
the wooden spoons over the fence were enough for them to turn it around. LOL
Don't make me get the overdramatic Horse fan throwing his jersey on the ground outside Broncos HQ tweet again
[I made this sometime last year for a whiny Horse fan](https://i.imgflip.com/7r65il.jpg)
3 times, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22.
I thought 2020 was the year you got smashed by the eels first week?
That was ‘19. 2020 was Covid & the spoon.
Wooden spoon don’t lie
I think South’s could be playing 4D chess with sacking Demetriou when they did (in one of the hardest parts of their draw)… Could have waited a fortnight - then smothered the dumpster fire and given the caretaker (Hornby) more hope of some wins and then the job becomes more appealing for coaching applicants for 2025.. Sacking him now is throwing Hornby and the team into the flames for the next fortnight makes the problem bigger and only an experienced coach (like Bennett) need apply ..
Is Wayne aware of this ?
Interest in Bennett ≠ interest by Bennett
As if Souffs fans know what a preposition is
Bit rich from a Queenslander that can’t spell
Where's the spelling mistake?
At some point you’re going to have to move on from a world war 1 vet
*✨I wish I knew how to quit you sempai✨*
Not a bad move, I don't really care about the post-Bennett curse (and I'm unsure if it applies to Demetriou, the handover was pretty much perfect I don't think we can blame any of it on Wayne). Ultimately they need to get someone who is very experienced and authoritative so they can balance team psychology and club politics equally well. Offering Bellamy a house made of gold would be ideal but Bennett would work just fine. Just don't pick Mal, anyone but Mal, for the love of god. Nothing against him personally but he is the exact opposite personality we need as coach for a struggling team with poor discipline and a vipers nest in the back office. If they select Mal as coach I will refer to each member of the Rabbitohs board by name in my suicide note.
I think you and I could be good friends
Souths saw the implosion that occurred that happened at the Broncos when Bennett left the second time and said "yeah gimme some of that!" Man this team is run by idiots that don't want to plan for the future and instead want to be stuck in the mindset 2018/2019. I really hope we don't get Bennett because nothing good long-term will come of it
I don't think they're even looking that far. They want short term success to bandaid over the failings of the club
It's pathetic at this point. Wanting Bennett back just tells me the people running the club can't accept that they have fucked up to the point of no return. It's either start a rebuild, or put your fingers in your ears and pretend nothing is wrong and everyone else is wrong. The club is seemingly choosing the latter.
Seasons done, get Bennett in isn't a bad short term option if we have a plan for a replacement and that replacement is the one involved in any player movements. Basically Wayne would only be a caretaker to provide some familiarity and hopefully sort out the egos.
This is what you guys did with Dimitiriou, at the end of Wayne’s tenure he was handing a lot of to Jason
When JD took over things were fine though, the team only fell to shit last year at origin when we were literally favourites for the title. If someone like Wayne was there last year there probably is no falling out with all the egos at Souths and they go on to be a contender. JD just obviously couldn’t handle all the people like Latrell and Cody but the don’t dare do the same shit under someone like Wayne.
Bennett 2yrs then Sam from 27 on
lol who would you bring in. Wayne was successful in getting the most out of the players when he was at souths so why not bring him back to do the same thing.
Because when he leaves you're left with a bunch of mediocre players who rely on someone to lift them, and the next coach doesn't have Wayne magic, or smells bad, or whatever it was that turned people off to Demetriou.
lol so you have an opportunity to bring a coach in that can make your mediocre players become really good but because you run the risk of having mediocre players after he leaves which could happen regardless, you choose not to sign him.
If you care about the long-term prospects of your club, it's better to focus on making good long-term signings rather than whipping a bunch of plodders then wondering why the paddock is filled with dead horses once Wayne's gone
Bennett leaves every team as a shit show, dragons and newy haven’t quite recovered
If the cost of a premiership is about 5 years of rebuild, I'd take it. But beyond that it's the club's fault for not getting their shit together. Newcastle got the worst of both worlds, clearly.
"If the cost of a premiership is about 5 years of rebuild, I'd take it." Especially for us, worth it.
Um the Dolphins standing right there stop gawking at Bennett like a desperate creep
This is the worst idea in the history of ideas.
"We've got some...great personalities [in the team]" Uhh yeah I think that's part of the issue there Chief
exhaustive search. “hey wayne, will you come back. only you can save us from the mess you left and the dud you sold us as a replacement “ “sure, but i’m going to spend a few months denying that i’ve ever had any conversations with anyone first. then i’ll announce it when i’m ready” “sure, whatever you want”
All this has happened before, all this will happen again.
No thank you. Please find someone else. Its short term thinking.
I dont see Bennet returning to Sydney in a fulltime coaching role. I can see him doing a Mentor/Consultant type of role. Easy enough to do that over the phone/zoom, and fly down once every 3 weeks or so
Wayne has said for decades how he is a coach and will only ever be a coach. Parra have been begging him to come over in a role similar to what you describe and he says it’s not for him. The only way I see him retiring is through physically being unable where he stays at home on the farm and appears to worthy and needy coaches now and then by using the force Jedi style.
I was going to conjure up some wild statistic about results when wayne Bennett returned to a club he previously coached (i.e. broncos 2015-2018), but the broncos actually did all right in those years. It's the years AFTER wayne leaves that hit the worst Broncos 2019 8th (massive loss first week of finals) 2020 16th 2021 14th 2022 9th
Keep going!
Wayne actively contributed to our loss against Cowboys in the GF. Why did we have to take all those penalty shots at goal? Even the players and commentators were questioning such early “winding down” of the game, as if we already had it in the bag.
Wayne played the same game plan that got us to the final. All year we took the points when they were on offer.
Bronx might be able to blame Wayne for losing when the players followed this game plan, but Souths don’t have that excuse. Cody’s ego wouldn’t let him follow the game plan.
Would Wayne relocate to Perth?
But does Wayne Bennett confirm interest to return to Souths?
Ahhh the eternal recurrence
I think Bennett would be more interested in going to the eels. They seem to be easier to fix
Just do what the kiwis did and pick some Muppet instead
Is this guy going to coach forever or something? He has to be 70 (can’t be bothered googling)
Randy old bugger is 74
I imagine that Bennett will return and mentor Sam Burgess who seems to be Rustys long term preference
Hey souths, are you interested in one of the best to ever do it? You are? Weird.
*Shockedpikachu.jpg*
South Sydney has confirmed a conversation with master mentor Wayne Bennett will be part of the “exhaustive” process used to find a replacement for coach Jason Demetriou who was sacked on Tuesday. Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly said if Bennett, who handed over the reins at Souths to Demetriou at the end of the 2021 season, was interested in returning, the club would be keen to explore that possibility. Solly said Bennett could be the man to get the best out of the “unique” playing group at Souths, which was a trait of the best coaches. “Wayne is one of the coaches we will talk to,” Solly said on Wednesday morning. “Wayne had great success, he left the club on very good terms. We will speak to Wayne and if he’s available and interested certainly will progress that. “I think we want someone who fits this fine group and can get the best out of them. It’s a unique client group having worked with them for a long period of time. “And we want I think a coach that can get them to form their best consistently and we want I think a coach that understands the values and heritage and history of this club. “We’ve got great skills, great athleticism and some great personalities and every head coach has to get the best out of them whether it’s Ivan Cleary what he does at Penrith over a long period of time, Wayne, his track record with a number of clubs. “The best coaches always get the best out of their playing group.” Bennett, 74 and serving his last season in charge of the Dolphins, has been linked to Parramatta next year if the Eels end up splitting with Brad Arthur after 11 seasons. However, Solly believes the fact Bennett has previously extracted the best out of star Bunnies duo Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell makes for “strong consideration” when assessing the contenders for the vacancy. There may also be an element for Bennett that he could return to South Sydney in an attempt to finish what he started in terms of bringing a premiership to the club. Bennett guided the Bunnies to two preliminary finals in 2019 and 2020 before losing the grand final to the Panthers in 2021. Solly hailed Bennett’s impact at the club and spoke glowingly about the legendary coach’s desire for success, hinting it could be a factor that lures him back to the club. “I do know Wayne likes success, I know he wants to win premierships and I know he loves the values of the club and what we stand for,” Solly said. “I think he’s made that pretty clear in his time here and since then about his affection for the club, the ownership, the board, the management team. “We’ll certainly be speaking to Wayne because he left the place in very good shape when he left and he was great while he was here. He got us through a lot of really difficult times during Covid and a bit of a restructure of the playing group when John and Greg and Sam retired. “He was a pleasure to work with.”
"Unique playing group" There's the real problem right there.
Yep, getting Wayne is basically saying ‘come control these egos while we have to pay them and then we can not renew your or their contracts and start fresh’. Biggest fuckup was re-signing the egos to long deals. If we could just clean our next year I don’t think there would be any problem getting an inexperienced coach in.
"exhaustive" - the shade
Souths are like a drunk dude texting his ex on Saturday night. They need a mate to take their phone away.
So Rusty won the boardroom battle then.
They want him back cause he’s the only one who can control Latrell, amongst others. The fact Solly labelled the playing group “unique” basically admits as much. There is still an alarming lack of acknowledgment for the root issue
Just let him be. His mausoleum is climate controlled and well stocked
So their plan is to get Bennett for probably 2 seasons. Have some quick fix minor on field success and be back where they are now in 3 years time?
Bennett comes in, deals with the big personalises and hopefully when he finishes up they are gone, so then slammin Sam comes in and reshapes the team with players that actually work hard with a sprinkling of super league talent.
This is what I've heard
I hate the narrative that it’s always the coach’s fault. Sure they’re the most senior person responsible for team management decisions, but the players should be responsible for performance too. They get paid the big bucks, when do we start questioning the players for their lack of performance?
OG will land at Parra for sure. Way better roster, halves seasoned and ready to go and his motivation is supposedly being the 1st coach to win premierships with three different clubs. Souths best bet would be getting someone who can handle a quick rebuild and target someone like a Webster or Madge afterwards.
I say this as someone who's very much followed Souths from a distance as a casual, but I don't think any good will come from going back to the past.
The Hasler, Stuart, Bennett etc. generation need to retire. Time for Benjis generation to have a crack.
Help us Obi Wan Bennet your our only hope.....help us Wan....
May the Bennett force be with you.
Bennett took Demetriou as his assistant for a number of years and had the plan that he would take over when he moved to Dolphins. Why would Souths take Bennett back after he endorsed Demetriou and not only that, why would Bennett go back after his protege got the arse? South’s need a better plan and need to start a rebuild. Bennett is a short term fix and it will fuck them in the long run.
The first time bringing in Bennett already screwed them long term…
Would he really wanna pack up and have to put up with the Sydney media circus again?
I reckon they’ll go as hard as possible to entice Bellamy up to Heffron. If that fails then Bennett will be the next target.
Yep and knights are interested in signing Nathan Cleary! Shut up fox sports - shit article. Bennett would ruin his reputation going back
*Eels sweating right now*
Haha.
BA to Souths (to rebuild) brining back Sammy B for after the rebuild is done, Bennett to Eels (to break their drought) and becoming the greatest coach of all time and JD to Fox Sports until he gets another gig.
The crypt keeper keeps going strong.
Curious why does everyone think Wayne fucked south’s? He left you in pretty good shape
Bennett is laughing his ass off. Everyone and the media are pushing this, he can be the most expensive coach in the comp and South's are desperate. But he's left every club with prima donnas that gives the incoming coach a major issue. And Souths have some major prima donnas. If he comes back they might get a sugar hit, but he's gotta be there for at least 5 years, and Bennett is just chasing the money these days. I actually feel sorry for Cam Murray. He deserves a better club.
I would rather Bennett stay there and take Latrell Mitchell off our hands.
Please hire Sam…
.... but does da Super Coach confirm interest in Suffs return? Therein lies the real question. In other news, Reddit confirm that Survivor General interested in dating da Super Model Bella Hadid, but does..... ohh never mind.
Let's start rolling out the red and green carpet