Ding dong the witch is dead.
No we’re not quoting Jack Gibson’s famous line in 1981, but the curse that’s been lifted almost dates back as far.
No coach this century has managed to excel in the wake of the great Wayne Bennett leaving a club – until now.
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Rookie Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has bucked the trend which has claimed coaching careers at the Dragons, Knights and the Broncos – twice.
Souths finished seventh on a congested ladder this season but they’re favourites to progress to the preliminary final when they face the Sharks on Saturday night.
Pundits questioned whether Demetriou could continue Souths Sydney’s success and he’s set to be rewarded next week with a contract extension until the end of 2025.
Here foxsports.com.au breaks down how Jason Demetriou managed to step out of Wayne Bennett’s shadow in 2022.
THE WAYNE EFFECT
Replacing supercoach Wayne Bennett is a well-trodden path with very few success stories.
Bennett has cast an enormous shadow on his successors over the years and almost all have battled to step out of it.
Paul Green and Anthony Seibold are the most-recent coaches who struggled with their respective sides, the Maroons and Broncos, in the wake of Bennett leaving.
Take a further trip down history lane and the Bennett curse also ended the NRL head coaching careers of Ivan Henjak (Broncos), Steve Price (Dragons) and Rick Stone (Knights).
But heading into this season, Demetriou declared history wouldn’t repeat in 2022.
“I do know nobody has transitioned from Wayne the way I have, so it’s an entirely new narrative,” Demetriou said.
“I’m hoping the things that make me successful as a head coach are the things that drew me to go and work with Wayne in the first place.
“He’s got a real care for his players on and off the field, and that care continues whether he’s coaching them or he’s not. I see similarities with me in that regard.
“It was (NFL coach) Bill Belichick who said, ‘Nobody cares what you know until they know how much you care’. That sums up Wayne and all the good coaches.
“You often hear people and the players talk about Trent Robinson and Craig Bellamy – they often talk about them as people first before they talk about them as coaches – and that’s indicative of any great leader.”
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The only coach to taste serious success at a club after Bennett left is the great Tim Sheen who replaced him at the Raiders in 1988.
Bennett guided Canberra to their first grand final in 1987, but Sheens went to four more deciders in the next seven years and won the club’s only three premierships.
JD’S JOURNEY TO THE TOP
Demetriou enjoyed a successful playing career in the Super League before he picked up the clipboard as a player-coach for UK minnows the Keighley Cougars in 2011.
Demetriou returned to Australia in 2013 to coach Queensland Cup side the Northern Pride in and won the premiership in just his second season.
That paved the way to his first NRL gig as an assistant at the Cowboys in 2015 when North Queensland beat Bennett’s Broncos to win their first and only title.
Demetriou played a crucial role alongside coach Paul Green and halfback Johnathan Thurston in delivering the first premiership from a Queensland club since 2006.
“It was a huge moment,” Demetriou told The Daily Telegraph.
“For us at the time and forever now in history there is only one group of men — playing group and staff — that will be involved in the first premiership in history.
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“(Can I) lean on what happened in 2015? I think so and in (the) 2021 (grand final). I think we got our prep bang on for that game and it went right down to the wire, as did the 2015 game.
“Out of those games you learn that the big moments matter in big games. That is the biggest message you can give to players — defend well and make those efforts that win you those extra moments, that will win you the game in the end.”
Demetriou joined Dragons as an assistant in 2016 before linking up with Bennett at the Broncos in 2017.
Bennett told the Broncos to make Demetriou his long-time successor, but they opted for Anthony Seibold instead in a decision that ended in tears.
Following an ugly divorce with the Brisbane board, Bennett and Demetriou left for South Sydney ahead of the 2019 season.
After the club had bowed out in three straight preliminary finals, the duo guided Souths to the grand final last season when they narrowly lost to Penrith.
THE IMPRESSIVE ROOKIE SEASON
Bennett left following the grand final heartbreak to build and coach the Dolphins.
It meant Demetriou, after serving a seven-year apprenticeship, finally had his own NRL team.
The 46-year-old inherited a grand final side minus Adam Reynolds (Broncos), Dane Gagai (Knights) and Jaydn Su’A (Dragons).
Demetriou was handed the keys to the Souths car but it was a rocky start to the season before the ‘Ferrari’ came back from injury.
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Latrell Mitchell returned from a 12-week hamstring lay-off against the Eels in Round 16 and heading into the fixture the Rabbitohs’ record was 7-7.
Mitchell hasn’t missed a game since, winning eight of 11, with narrow losses coming against title contenders the Sharks and Panthers.
“His leadership has been the biggest difference he has been bringing to the team,” Demetriou said of Mitchell after their 22-0 win over Parramatta in Round 22.
“He’s really matured into a good leader, he’s holding himself accountable and that’s rubbing off on his teammates.
“I think he didn’t enjoy the time sitting on the sidelines but he got a lot out of it. Maturity is a big thing for a lot of footballers but he’s really starting to own that part of his game at the moment.”
THE PLAYERS’ PERSPECTIVE
They say assistant coaches are players’ best mates… then they become grumpy head coaches.
But Demetriou has made the transition seamlessly and takes great pride in his relationship with his squad.
Souths skipper Cameron Murray, who made his NRL debut 2017, said he knew immediately Demetriou had the makings of a head coach.
“He was always going to be a good head coach, I knew that from the moment I saw him walk in the doors and heard him speak,” Murray told foxsports.com.au.
“I felt his passion and energy and you just know he loves his footy and loves being a leader and prides himself on being accountable and just making sure that himself and everyone around him is getting better every day. He’s been great for us this year.
“It helped him being here the three years Wayne was an assistant and he got to build the relationships, but he’s just a natural leader.”
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Rabbitohs star second-rower Jai Arrow played under Demetriou at the Broncos in 2017 and said he played an integral role in bringing him to Souths in 2020.
Arrow told foxsports.com.au the secret to Demetriou’s success has been simply sticking to a winning formula.
“JD has been tremendous this year, he was very hands-on last year as the assistant coach and he hasn’t changed at all this year, he’s just been JD,” Arrow said.
“He’s such a good bloke to work under, he makes things fun. If you need a kick up the arse he gives you a kick up the arse and when he wants to praise you he’ll praise you.
“I love working with him and he’s a big part of why I came to this club.”
Demetriou controversially hooked Reynolds’ replacement, 22-year-old Lachlan Illias, after just 29 minutes in a Round 15 loss to the Dragons.
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“He’s a young kid who’s come into first grade in extraordinary circumstances with a lot of pressure on him and people have got to remember these guys haven’t played footy for two years,” Demetriou said after the Dragons game.
“He’s played more games this year than he has in the previous two seasons.”
Demetriou revealed he pulled Ilias aside a few weeks prior to that Dragons game and knew it was the right decision to pull him off the field.
“I felt like he was flatlining a little bit and his energy levels were starting to dip,” Demetriou said.
“That’s important for me as a coach to get a feel for that. I felt like at that time and that moment I needed to get him out of there.”
But instead of dropping Illias the following week, Demetriou backed him to respond and he’s since played an integral role in getting Souths to within two wins of the grand final.
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