A shattered Jason Demetriou has taken responsibility for the Rabbitohs’ stunning decline and vowed to learn from the “tough lessons” the club got during season 2023.
The Rabbitohs’ finals hopes were killed by arch rivals, the Roosters on Friday night in a 26-12 loss.
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They are the first team since the introduction of the top eight system to miss finals after leading the competition in Round 11, according to AAP’s Scott Bailey.
Demetriou admitted the result was “hard” to take given the positive signs in the first half of the year.
“From where we got to, the pre-season we had and the first half of the season, disappointing,” he said.
“That performance probably summed up the back end of our year — just not quite nailing a few things. Our effort and fight was outstanding, but just not capitalising off our opportunities and then leaking points.”
When asked about the implosion at his club, he put the onus on himself — and pinpointed the State of Origin period as the moment things started to go pear-shaped.
“It’s going to be a part of a deep review, for sure,” Demetriou said.
“I’ve got to hold my hands up there, I’m the head coach, it’s on me to make sure we’re better (and) we’re not falling like we were.
“I could sit here and make excuses but it hurts. It’s a tough lesson to learn but I’ll learn it.
“I’ve got to have a deep look at how I handled that situation, that mid-part especially through the Origin period and how we came out of it.
“Like I said it hurts now and there’s tough lessons but I’ll learn it.”
The loss tops off a horror couple of weeks for the club where assistant coach and club legend Sam Burgess was shown the door after reportedly questioning special treatment given to Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker.
Then there was a leaked text message revealing Rod Churchill — son of rugby league legend Clive — called Mitchell a “cancer” on the club.
When asked about the outside noise Demetriou said: “It’s disappointing because as a club we haven’t had that the last few years.
“We’re a pretty tight ship. Like any club we work on our things together and inside the four walls so it’s disappointing that things are getting out or are being said. A lot of it isn’t true but at the end of the day we can’t change it.
“It’s a small part to probably a lot of little things that have added to where we are at.”
Meanwhile, Rabbitohs skipper Cameron Murray — who inked a three-year extension during the week — agreed with the coach that the result was “disappointing.”
But he hopes it will light a fire in the playing group for next season.
“It’s hard to put your finger on where it went wrong,” he said.
“We’ll just make sure we remember how much this hurts… Just use this as motivation to never feel this feeling again.”
Originally published as Jason Demetriou puts hand up for record Souths collapse, missing finals
