JD Is Going and It Is The Only Decision That Souths Could Come To: Jason Demetriou is going to be removed as South Sydney coach. By the time this is published, it may well have happened. He has to go for many reasons – lack of wins, a poor relationship with senior players, a degradation in culture, terrible decision-making when it comes to selections, a walkout of assistant coaches – but at the end of the day, he has to go. There is no point putting off the inevitable. This season can still be salvaged – or at least the culture can be changed in time for next year and the future coach put in play.
Blake Solly is one of the smartest operators around and he is not going to let this fester if he and the board determine Jason Demetriou is not the coach to take the team forward. And it is fairly apparent that he is not.
The Rabbitohs, despite the significant talent the team has on its roster, have won just five of their last 18. They dug in against Cronulla – the first time they have done so all season – but still lost by 12 and the fact that effort came with Damien Cook being dropped and Latrell Mitchell missing should actually be an indictment on the coach. The team just cannot succeed with at least two of it’s top four or five players have no interest in playing for him. Sam Burgess walked out on the club because certain players were not held to account and that is clearly still continuing with veteran Alex Johnston speaking out against the coach trying to appease Latrell.
There is clearly division. There is clearly a lack of accountability. There is clearly a lack of effort. There is no future.
Souths are a well run club who will time this so they can bring in the best available successor – and getting in now before the Eels get moving will land them Wayne Bennett.
Mal Looks Like A Clown: Mal Meninga’s behaviour over the last week has been anything but edifying and hardly becoming of the incumbent Australian coach. His salivating over the demise of Jason Demetriou at South Sydney and panting for his gig like a desperate puppy was humiliating. Clamouring for a job that isn’t open is poor but to be fooled by a clear South Sydney diversion tactic just makes him look clownish. Mal Meninga says he has not been approached – fun fact is, he won’t. The Bunnies wanted the media to focus elsewhere and they succeeded. Mal then had the temerity to criticise South Sydney and knock back a job he had absolutely zero chance of being in consideration for. When was the last time an outside coach was brought in to be the interim mentor? Good luck finding the answer to that one. It is not surprising that Mal has not been sighted in club-land for two decades.
Refereeing Injuries: It is absolutely disgraceful that referees are determining penalties based on the impact an illegal act has on the physical health of an opponent. Grant Atkins showed the bottle of a half-drunk worm when not even sin binning David Klemmer for a shoulder to the head of Kyle Flanagan. There was no further action because Flanagan got up. All Atkins and those who penalise not on action but on resulst are encouraging staying down.
Vale, Keith Barnes: Rugby League lost one of its great with the passing of Balmain icon Keith Barnes. You don’t get the nickname ‘Golden Boots’ without being a special player and Barnes was just that, playing 193 games for his beloved Balmain as well as 14 Tests before a long-serving career as an administrator, leading Balmain from 1976 and managing the Kangaroos in 1990. He was named in the Balmain team of the century, is in the 100 greatest players ever and has a grandstand named after him at Leichhardt. A true icon.
Betting Close Calls: This week’s betting close calls:
● Under 43.5 hung on grimly in the Broncos-Dolphins clash when it seemed home at halftime.
● Those on the Rabbitohs +10.5 will never forgive Keano Koloamatangi after he failed to collect a grubber kick leading to a Sharks try with a minute to play.
2024 Field Goal Update – 9: We had another big weekend for field goals with both Daejarn Asi and Jamal Fogarty slotting field goals. Asi kicked his first field goal in the NRL while Fogarty was miraculously given an opportunity to win the game in the last 10 seconds of golden point and the underrated No.7 nailed it.
Fun (Maybe Not A) Fact #1: Keith Barnes and Hesh from The Sopranos are distantly related.
Fun Fact #2: Ricky Stuart ridiculously claimed that the Raiders deserved “another 10 to 12 six-agains” despite being gifted the match by Kasey Badger on the back of a 10-1 six-again count and some of the most utterly ridiculous decisions you will ever see.
Fun Fact #3: Spencer Leniu has the highest win percentage in premiership history with a record of 83.13%.
Willie M Team of the Week: This week’s team of fools, flops and frauds:
1.Jayden Campbell (GC) 2.Corey Oates (Bri) 3.Dane Gagai (New) 4.Solomona Faataape (Tig) 5.Will Warbrick (Mel) 6.Cody Walker (Sou) 7.Drew Hutchison (Bul) 8.Leo Thompson (New) 9.Lachlan Croker (Man) 10.David Klemmer (Tig) 11.Jaiyden Hunt (Bri) 12.Jaeman Salmon (Bul)
13.Jake Turpin (Bul)
———————— 14.Anthony Milford (Dol) 15.Josh Kerr (Dol)
16.Sam Verrills (GC) 17.Griffin Neame (NQ)
—————————- Coach: Jason Demetriou
Betting Market of the Week: Who does Ricky Stuart hate the most?
$2.50: Des Hasler $2.00: Jaeman Salmon $4.00: Wayne Bennett $4.50: Ashley Klein
Rumour Mill: Zac Lomax is set to sign a long deal with Parramatta with the deal to be announced soon. The Dragons are attempting to replace Lomax with Sunia Turuva with the Panther looking likely to depart. James Tedesco is a very good chance to be dumped for NSW with Dylan Edwards reportedly with his nose in front.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Jason Demetriou is in absolute panic-mode and his decision to dump Damien Cook was petty, short-sighted and stupid. Cook has not been at his best this year but has been one of the few players putting in. His dumping is going to do nothing to bring together a divided group.
The Coaching Crosshairs: The situation at South Sydney has accelerated the need for Parramatta to make a decision on Brad Arthur and their coaching situation next year. The Eels are off a win and Arthur has been there a long time but the Eels have been linked to Wayne Bennett and Bennett is likely to be more keen on moving to the Eels than the Rabbitohs are they are more likely to win. The Eels aren’t renowned for making quick – or hard – decisions but if they want Bennett, they are going to have to,
Watch It: In honour of the great Keith Barnes, we go back to the 1990 Kangaroo Tour and the most famous moment of that famous trip, when Ricky Stuart made a sensational break to set up a match-winning try to Mal Meninga. Watch it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11y0Sk7EoDU