Wayne Bennett has confirmed he is interested in a fairytale return to the Rabbitohs as South Sydney goes all-in in pursuit of the seven-time NRL premiership-winning coach.
Souths chief executive Blake Solly has indicated that Bennett is ‘top of the list’ of potential successors to Jason Demetriou, who was sacked on Tuesday after 12 months of poor results.
Chief operating officer Brock Schaefer is said to have chosen on Wednesday to follow Demetriou out the door after almost ten years at the club.
The Rabbitohs hope to appoint a new coach for 2025 within weeks and have committed to an ‘exhaustive process’ to find an experienced campaigner.
“We’ll take as long as we need, but we’d probably prefer to get it done in a matter of weeks, not months,” Solly said Wednesday.
Wayne Bennett has confirmed he wants to return as coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs
The Bunnies parted ways with Jason Demetriou on Tuesday after a poor start to the season
‘(The new head coach) will be experienced. They don’t necessarily have to be an experienced coach in the NRL.
‘(But) we are not going to do business with a coach who has not coached first-team football before.’
Bennett was Demetriou’s predecessor and led the Rabbitohs to a narrow grand final defeat to Penrith in 2021 – his final season in charge.
The core of the club’s current squad was on the books during Bennett’s three seasons at Souths, all of which extended to at least the preliminary finals.
The 74-year-old will resign from the Dolphins at the end of the season.
AAP understands that Bennett informed the Dolphins on Wednesday that he was interested in speaking to the Rabbitohs.
It seems unlikely that former Souths assistant Ben Hornby, interim coach for Thursday’s match with Penrith and the remainder of 2024, will be considered.
Ex-Wallabies boss Michael Cheika, Souths’ most recent premiership-winning coach Michael Maguire and Super League guru Steve McNamara have all been mooted as other options.
But speaking on 2GB, Solly said Bennett was ‘top of the list’ of potential hires, although the club had not yet made a formal approach.
“Wayne had a lot of success here and left the club on very good terms,” Solly told reporters on Wednesday.
“We will talk to Wayne and if he is available and interested, we will certainly make progress on that.
“He left the place in very good condition when he left.
“He got us through some really tough times during COVID, a little restructuring of the playing group when John (Sutton) and Greg (Inglis) and Sam (Burgess) retired.
‘It was a pleasure to work with him.’
Demetriou was coached by Bennett, but his time as head coach did not go well
Solly said Bennett’s proven ability to get the best out of fullback Latrell Mitchell and five-eighth Cody Walker made him worthy of strong consideration.
The star couple endures miserable individual campaigns.
Solly acknowledged that the Rabbitohs had a “unique playing group” that required careful management.
As an assistant under Bennett and Demetriou, Burgess appears unlikely to return to Souths in 2025.
The legendary Rabbitohs striker left the club last season amid reports of a falling out with Demetriou over alleged preferential treatment for Walker and Mitchell.
He now coaches England’s Warrington, whose contract expires at the end of 2025.
“We don’t want to disrupt that,” Solly said.
“My view is that (Warrington) is Sam’s chance to show the world he can coach. We wish him the best of luck with that.’