By Michael Chammas, Adam Pengilly and Billie Eder
Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has expressed interest in taking over as South Sydney coach from next season.
Sources with knowledge of discussions, talking under the condition of anonymity due to confidentiality, told this masthead a third party has reached out to South Sydney officials on behalf of Cheika to throw his hat into the ring.
As reported by this masthead on Wednesday morning, Cheika was one of five names on a hit list drawn up by South Sydney board members on Tuesday just hours before terminating the contract of Jason Demetriou.
Cheika coached Lebanon at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, juggling his rugby union commitments with the Argentinian national team at the same time as his Lebanon gig.
He still managed to lead the Cedars to the quarter-final and later went on to take Argentina to the semi finals of the Rugby Union World Cup the following year.
Former South Sydney player Josh Mansour, who played under Cheika for Lebanon at the 2022 World Cup, believes the former Wallabies coach is the perfect candidate for the Rabbitohs.
Michael Cheika during his time as coach of Lebanon at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup.Credit: Jan Kruger/Getty
“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with,” Mansour said.
“He’d be perfect for South Sydney. He’s a coach that’s very good at bringing a team together. He’s a good man manager. He’s a proven winner. The best trait about Michael Cheika is his ability to instil belief, not only within yourself as a player, but within the team. He’s just extremely passionate about what he does.
“I was very surprised coming from a 15-man background just how much he knew about league. I think he’s the right man for the Souths job. That would be a good thing for South Sydney given some of the defensive issues this year.”
Wayne Bennett is South Sydney’s No.1 target to take over from the axed coach, with chief executive Blake Solly wanting to appoint a new boss “within weeks”.
Former South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett.Credit: Getty
Fronting the media for the first time after Demetriou was sacked on Tuesday night, Solly didn’t shy away from the club’s interest in bringing Bennett back to South Sydney after he led them to the 2021 grand final.
“Wayne’s one of the coaches that we will talk to,” Solly said.
“Wayne had great success here, left the club on very good terms, and we’ll speak to Wayne. If he’s available and interested, certainly we’ll progress that.”
Bennett will finish coaching the Dolphins at the end of this season and hand the reins to his assistant, Kristian Woolf.
The pursuit of seven-time premiership-winning boss Bennett is a logical one for the Rabbitohs, who are anchored to the bottom of the ladder with just one win from seven games this year.
The Rabbitohs opted against sacking Demetriou a fortnight ago during the bye round, but Solly felt they couldn’t wait any longer after the 54-20 Anzac Day game humbling at the hands of Melbourne.
Asked if Bennett would want to return to the club, Solly said: “I don’t know, because I haven’t spoken to Wayne, how in-depth he would think about our club at the moment. But I do know Wayne likes success. I know he wants to win premierships, and I know he loves the values the club stands for.
“I think he’s made that pretty clear in his time here, and since then, about his affection for the club, the ownership, board, the management team, so we will 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.”
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly arrives at Heffron Park on Wednesday morning.Credit: Nick Moir
Demetriou took control of Rabbitohs training on Tuesday morning before a second South Sydney board meeting – for which chairman Nick Pappas dialled in from London – sealed his fate later that night.
After weeks of speculation about the coach’s future, Solly said the board felt they had no other option given the Rabbitohs’ horror form.
“In our view, we just felt that the style of play and probably Jason’s management of the players needed to change,” Solly said.
Asked whether the Rabbitohs had treated Demetriou poorly in the drawn-out process, Solly said: “I don’t agree.
“I think that Jason spent three years here as an assistant coach, was appointed to succeed Wayne very early on in his tenure as an assistant, the club gave Jason every single opportunity to have success, but results over the last 12 months haven’t been good enough for a club of our stature.
“And whilst it’s no criticism of Jason and how hard he works, the last 20 games speak for themselves, and for his agent to say that he’s been treated shabbily in the context of a year’s worth of patience and support, I think is unfair.
“And I’m not sure that Jason would share that view.”
Demetriou’s assistant Ben Hornby will take over for South Sydney’s clash with Penrith on Thursday night.
When he arrived at South Sydney’s Heffron Park headquarters shortly after 7am on Wednesday morning, Hornby said: “I’m looking forward to the match.”
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