The South Sydney Rabbitohs board have reportedly performed a backflip over the future of embattled coach Jason Demetriou.
It had been widely reported during the week that Demetriou would be axed by the club if the Rabbitohs came up short against the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday evening.
The Rabbitohs did lose, but it was in the face of a number of injuries both before the game and during it, and Demetriou himself said he was proud of the effort his side were able to show during the contest.
"I'm pretty proud [of our performance] to be honest," Demetriou said during his post-game press conference.
"I spoke about it last week, about valuing the 80 minutes to make it the most important part of our week. There was a fair bit of carnage out there and we had one interchange for over half a game. We lost a winger and a fullback for 15 minutes, and to drag ourselves to 28-22, to maintain that fight we are winning a lot more games than we lose, that's for sure."
The loss, nonetheless moves the Rabbitohs to a five and one start across the first six rounds as they now head into a bye before travelling to Melbourne to play the Storm, and then hosting the Penrith Panthers in what will be an exceptionally difficult fortnight.
But it seems the performance was enough for South Sydney to hand Demetriou more time, with multiple publications now reporting he will indeed continue as coach for at least another game following the bye.
The club's CEO Blake Solly even told News Corp the board are now willing to give Demetriou time given the performance against the men from the Shire.
"Our Chairman (Nick Pappas) said before Saturday's game that if the performance against the Sharks was gallant and showed resilience, we will give Jason time," Solly said.
"I think the performance showed that, with plenty of room for further improvement in coming weeks. If we continue to grow in confidence, determination to win and stability - Jason will be given the time he needs."
Solly had similar comments to The Sydney Morning Herald although admitted the club will be asking what it needs to do to improve after the dismal start to the year, which only follows the terrible conclusion to 2023 which saw South Sydney plummet from competition leaders after Round 11 to missing the finals.
Demetriou himself suggested no one at the club has talked to him about his future, and he expects to remain coach for the club's next clash in the Victorian capital.
