South Sydney Rabbitohs defend decision to sack Jason Demetriou ...

• In short: South Sydney sacked Jason Demetriou as head coach on Tuesday night
• Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly backed the club's decision following its poor start to the season
• What's next? Wayne Bennett has been linked with a return to the Rabbitohs as head coach

South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly says the club has no regrets over sacking Jason Demetriou as head coach. 

The last-placed Rabbitohs fired Demetriou on Tuesday night on the back of a failed 2023 campaign and a 1-6 win-loss record so far this season.

The board met from 8am on Tuesday to hear Demetriou pitch for his job, before reconvening in the evening and unanimously deciding to terminate his contract.

Having been backed to remain coach after a gallant round-six loss to Cronulla, Demetriou was confident in his ability to inspire the Rabbitohs out of their slump.

But club powerbrokers were convinced otherwise by the 54-20 thrashing the Rabbitohs were handed by Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day.

"Unfortunately, we didn't think that Jason's coaching style would be able to get the change that we needed or the improvement we needed," Solly said.

"Given that we sit 17th on the table and our for-and-against is 50 points worse than 16th, now was the time to make the change."

Solly said Demetriou handled his sacking with dignity.

"There were no blow-ups, there was no anger, [Demetriou] deals with that sort of adversity very well. It's a credit to him," Solly said.

Solly addressed the Rabbitohs' playing group on Wednesday morning, having informed them of the decision to sack Demetriou via text message the previous night.

He said he did not believe Demetriou had lost the dressing room, but said the coach was no longer able to get the best out of his players.

"I want to say that Jason is an incredibly hard-working coach," Solly said.

"But in our view we just felt that the style of play and probably Jason's management of the players needed to change.

"I'm talking about the whole of the squad and ensuring that every player in the squad can perform at their best."

The Rabbitohs had announced a contract extension for Demetriou last October that tied him to the club through 2026, although a clause in that deal entitled him to only nine months' wages as his payout.

Solly defended the new contract, and the decision to fire Demetriou after the Storm loss, despite backing him a fortnight earlier.

"Our view was that one game [against Melbourne] was indicative of an inability to turn it around," Solly said.

"We felt [the contract extension] was important given that we were a premiership threat and we felt we had a campaign and a squad to hopefully go and win that premiership.

"We gave Jason what we felt he deserved."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a Rabbitohs supporter, paid tribute to Demetriou, describing him as a "decent man".

"He put in an extraordinary effort as coach," he said.

"It would have been a tough day for hm yesterday but I wish him all the very best."

Ben Hornby, who was an assistant to Demetriou, will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has been linked with a return to the Rabbitohs as a permanent replacement for Demetriou.

Bennett coached the Rabbitohs from 2019 to 2021, guiding the club to the grand final in his last season in charge.

Demetriou, who was an assistant coach under Bennett, took over the following season and led the Rabbitohs to a preliminary final appearance in 2022.

After a promising start in 2023, the Rabbitohs capitulated in the second half of the season to finish ninth with a 12-12 win-loss return.

AAP/ABC