The South Sydney Rabbitohs have officially confirmed the future of head coach Jason Demetriou, re-signing the coach for a further two seasons.
The extension will see Demetriou at the club until the end of the 2026 season, whilst assistant coach Ben Hornby has signed a new deal with the club for the next two until the end of the 2025 season.
Demetriou has been a key piece in the Rabbitohs and helped them achieve success in his maiden season last year, seeing them reach the Preliminary Final, however, he failed to help guide the club to the finals series this season.
Joining the Red and Green in 2020 as a Development Coach being before promoted to the assistant coaching role, Ben Hornby has been a key member of the coaching staff and will play a larger role next season with the departures of Sam Burgess and John Morris.
โIt is an absolute honour to coach this club and I feel very privileged to be extending my time at South Sydney,โ coach Jason Demetriou said in a club statement.
โI'm really looking forward to the challenges ahead of us in 2024.
โI'm really excited by the staff group we've put together for new season as well as the strength of the squad we have available.
โI can assure all of our Members and all of our fans that we will be representing the Rabbitohs in the best way we can each and every day and we are all very excited about what lies ahead for us next season and into the future.โ
In other coaching news at the club, NSW Cup Coach and Head of Elite Pathways and Development Joe O'Callaghan has been promoted into a full-time coaching role as an NRL assistant coach under Demetriou, as well as being the NSW Cup coach.
Club legend John Sutton will now be given the role as a full-time Development Coach, with Andrew Croll extending his tenure as the Head of Performance, so will Jack Milligan (Head of Strength and Conditioning), Paul Minei (Physiotherapist) and Cuan Neyland (Physiotherapist), all of whom have extended their tenure at the Rabbitohs.
Renowned physiotherapist Vicki Locke will join the club on a full-time basis. Sam Pervan (Rehabilitation Coach), Crawford Quinn (Head Physiotherapist), Tyrone McCarthy (Pathways Coaching Director), and Brent Hill (Pathways Recruitment Manager) will all join the club.
Furthermore, Ian Reeves (Head of Wellbeing) will continue in his role while former NRL player Jason Clark will return as the Pathways Wellbeing Manager, and Ryan Gonsalves has been recruited to serve as the NRL Career Coach.
Finally, COO Brock Schaefer and Rabbitohs Head of Football Mark Ellison will remain in their respective roles.
โWe have identified the areas in which we can improve to return the Club to its goal of being a top four team every year. We worked with Shane McCurry and spoke extensively to players, coaches, staff and our Board on what we needed to improve in 2024โ Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly said.
โWe have already taken some steps towards rectifying the key areas that have been identified as capable of improvement. We will continue to make the required changes to return this Club to where it belongs. We're confident that we can return to the right end of the ladder in 2024.
โWe were not looking for excuses, we were looking at solutions, and we'll continue to implement changes prior to players returning for training in November.
โWe know a ninth-place finish is not what is expected of our Club. Our Members and supporters expect more, our partners expect more, and we expect more of ourselves.
โWe have great confidence in Jason and the entire coaching, medical and operational staff, to return our team to the Finals in 2024.
"We're delighted to see Jason and Ben extend their time with the Club, as well as the recruitment of some of the world's best practitioners in their fields to help our team perform at its best every day.
"The performance of our NSW Cup team shows the quality of the talent in our pathway programs, and the new roles for Joe and John Sutton are recognition of their tremendous work this season.
โI'd like to thank the staff and players that are departing our Club this year, in particular Eddie Farah who has given 17 years of fine service to the Rabbitohs. We wish him and his family the best with their future and they will always be welcome at the Rabbitohs.
โWe're all looking forward to having our players back in the building come November this year as we get a much longer and stronger pre-season to prepare for kick off in 2024.โ
