Rabbitohs set to hire Mal Meninga if Jason Demetriou is sacked

South Sydney Rabbitohs will reportedly try to hire Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga if they decide to fire Jason Demetriou this season. 

South Sydney Rabbitohs are reportedly set to make a shocking head coaching hire should they fire their current boss Jason Demetriou soon. According to Fox Sports, the Bunnies have identified current Kangaroos head coach Mal Meninga as the top choice to replace Demetriou. 

Why Demetriou could be sacked 

Rabbitohs came into the 2024 NRL season as one of the bookies’ favourites to win the Premiership. That’s all gone up in flames after five rounds of terrible rugby league football.  
 
Souths have just one win to their name after five matches and are currently bottom of the NRL ladder. Behavioural issues with one of their star players, Latrell Mitchell, has resulted in the player getting a three-match ban, which could root Rabbitohs even harder down at the bottom of the table.  
 
When a club starts the season this poorly, all eyes turn to the manager. In this case, it’s Jason Demetriou. Reports say that the 48-year-old could be sacked as soon as this weekend if the Bunnies lose to Sharks this Saturday. Some reporters say Demetriou is already a ‘dead man walking’ and will be sacked regardless of the result against Cronulla in Round 6.  
 
Souths Chairman Nick Pappas claims the club fully supports  Demetriou. However, this statement came only after reports about Demetriou’s potential replacement broke on Wednesday.  

Mal Meninga tipped to take over at Souths 

A bombshell report from Fox Sports on Wednesday claims Souths are set to hire current Australia rugby league boss Mal Meninga to replace Demetriou. The 63-year-old has coached the Kangaroos since 2015. He hasn’t coached a club side since leaving Raiders in 2005 to take over at Queensland.  
 
Reportedly, the Rabbitohs board were presented with a shortlist of potential candidates including Meninga, Michael Maguire and Ben Hornby. The board members voted unanimously in favour of Meninga.  
 
This definitely would be a left field hire for the Bunnies. Prior to the rumours of Meninga to Rabbitohs breaking, the betting sites tipped Dolphins’ boss Wayne Bennett to take over at Souths. Sam Burgess, former Rabbitohs assistant, and Michael Maguire were also in the running.  
 
Despite all the options, Rabbitohs are going with Meninga. The club believe his aura and style are what they need to pull the players out of the rut they are currently in.  

If Meninga does decide to join the Bunnies, he will be asked to step down from his role as Australia boss to avoid any conflicts of interest. It’s unclear if Meninga will step down temporarily for just this year or if he will decide to finally call it quits from his position as Kangaroos boss.