Jason Demetriou has become the latest victim of the infamous Wayne Bennett curse – but there is still hope for the sacked Rabbitohs coach.
After a rollercoaster two years at Redfern, the 48-year-old was axed by the club on Tuesday, ending a tough stint that saw South Sydney lose 16 of its past 20 games.
Demetriou appeared destined for success at the Bunnies after taking over from Bennett heading into the 2022 season, and managed to take the side to a preliminary final in his first year as a full-time NRL head coach.
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Less than a year ago, Souths sat atop the competition ladder, before an untimely injury to Latrell Mitchell and rumblings of internal turmoil derailed their campaign and saw them miss the top eight for the first time since 2017.
Demetriou was given a stay of execution but after a horror start to the 2024 season, the writing was on the wall and the board ultimately made the decision to part ways.
He now joins a growing list of Bennett's replacements who struggled to fill the giant shoes left by the seven-time premiership winner, which stems back to an initial exit from the Broncos at the end of 2008.
Ivan Henjak took over at Red Hill following Bennett's lengthy tenure at the club, but was axed after two seasons as the powerhouse club missed the finals and was replaced by Anthony Griffin, who also struggled to take them to any great heights.
After a hit-and-run three-year mission at St George Illawarra delivered the merged Red V their first premiership, Bennett handed the reins to Steve Price.
Price was doomed from the get-go as Bennett cherry-picked the best talent the Dragons had to offer at the time and Price was gone in less than three years.
It was an even more dire story at the Knights, with Bennett failing to take the club to a title and dashing back home to Brisbane after three years, leaving a huge mess for Rick Stone to clean up.
He was unable to fix it and Stone was sacked after 18 games of the 2015 season, before Nathan Brown oversaw a rebuild before ultimately leaving Newcastle after three years.
Henjak, Price and Stone have never coached again in the NRL.
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Demetriou now finds himself in a similar spot and there will be enormous question marks and great trepidation from any club who might be interested in his services down the line – but there's reason to believe he has what it takes to be a first grade head coach.
In his first season post-Bennett, he lost the greatest halfback to wear the cardinal and myrtle in the last 50 years, Adam Reynolds, and replaced him with rookie playmaker Lachlan Ilias.
Demetriou also lost rep stars Dane Gagai and Jaydn Su'A, as well as veteran Benji Marshall, from a side that narrowly went down to the Panthers in the 2021 decider.
Despite all the roster changes and the Bennett curse looming over his head, Demetriou took the Bunnies to within a game of another grand final appearance.
The following year started with plenty of promise, before the aforementioned injury to the club's superstar Mitchell and the messy exit of Sam Burgess turned everything upside down. This year was the aftermath, with the club on an ugly downward spiral.
There's certainly blame to be placed on Demetriou's shoulders. His communication style – which was documented by former player Josh Mansour – clearly didn't sit well with some players, while some of his team selections raised eyebrows.
But the proof is in the pudding from his first 18 months in charge at the NRL's oldest and proudest club that Demetriou is a good coach and can get the best out of his players.
Henjak, Price and Stone never showed half as much during their tenures after Bennett.
With all the other mess going on in the locker room and at board level, South Sydney was simply not the right place for Demetriou to find success.
He still managed to handle the ordeal with more grace than it perhaps warranted. Demetriou could have easily criticised the club for hanging him out to dry, but he still took time to joke with media on the day a circus was surrounding him.
With time to heal and reflect on his approach, Demetriou is the most likely man to buck the trend of post-Bennett coaches being one-and-done in the top grade.
And as we have learned in rugby league, the coaching merry-go-round never truly stops and sooner rather than later, another NRL club will come knocking on Demetriou's door.
Clubs have short memories – and if you needed proof of that, just ask Anthony Seibold, who was sacked by the Broncos after two years and is now flying high at Manly.
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