Wayne Bennett has confirmed he will coach the Rabbitohs in 2025.
“It wasn’t a badly-kept secret. I said all along I was going back to Souths,” Bennett told this masthead on Tuesday morning.
“I know where I stood for ages. I like that part of Sydney, I like Souths and the people there, the fans … it’s a great club.”
The seven-time premiership-winning coach will return to the club he led to the 2021 grand final on a three-year deal worth about $3 million, with the deal to also include performance bonuses that align with the club’s on-field results.
Bennett’s return to the cardinal and myrtle comes after a persistent, clandestine bid for his services by Parramatta officials as they prepared to move on from Brad Arthur as early as May 1.
The Rabbitohs made Bennett their overwhelming priority once his one-time successor Jason Demetriou was sacked three weeks ago, only for the Eels to do the same behind closed doors.
Throughout negotiations, which included a visit to Bennett’s farm in Warwick and a lucrative offer to take charge at Parramatta, the 74-year-old coach maintained that his preference was to return to the Rabbitohs, a message that was conveyed to South Sydney CEO Blake Solly.
Bennett told this masthead on Monday night that “I was impressed with [Parramatta] and the way they handled it”, but has long stressed his personal connection to a South Sydney playing group largely assembled under his watch.
Attention will soon turn to that same roster with Bennett to arrive next season aiming to lift a powerhouse club that has slumped to outright last on the ladder ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Eels.
Interim coach Ben Hornby will coach that game and Bennett has indicated he wants Hornby to stay on, having worked previously as his assistant from 2020.
More to come
