Read the article below, and compare the differences between the bunnies management and the rubbish that Parramatta has had since 2017.
Souths don't sit back and tolerate failure or make excuses for it like the eels do and you only need read the part about how the loss to the storm was the final straw.
In contrast, when Parramatta got humiliated in a record loss by the storm in 2018 when the bush coach was steering the club to the wooden spoon the eels board gave him a new contact.
Like I always said , the same people who told you that Steve Sharp was going to be wonderful for the club are the exact same people who told this rubbish and the method in which they were selected was also going to be wonderful for the club.
If you're a Souths fan, at least you know your club won't be allowed to flounder and fail for long.
For while the bunnies management aren't perfect and make mistakes, at least they have standards for their club and know when things are unacceptable enough to make changes.
Parramatta's management, on the other hand, have low standards, make excuses for failing, reward failure and don't like making changes.
NRL 2024: South Sydney CEO Blake Solly on Jason Demetriou sacking, Wayne Bennett interest
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly has fronted the media, revealing the moment the club made the decision to sack Jason Demetriou, while confirming Wayne Bennett is a target.
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly has lavished praise on seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett as the Rabbitohs prepare to unveil a replacement for Jason Demetriou within weeks, not months.
Solly fronted the media on Tuesday morning at Souths’ Heffron Park headquarters, outlining the board’s decision to sack Demetriou less than 24 hours earlier and hitting back at criticism of the club over their handling of his dismissal.
He also gave Bennett a ringing endorsement as the club begins the process of identifying the coach they want to lead them next season.
“Wayne is one of the coaches we will talk to,” Solly said.
“Wayne had great success here, left the club on very good terms. We’ll speak to Wayne and if he’s available and he’s interested certainly we’ll progress that.
Pushed on whether Bennett’s prior success in bringing out the best in the Iikes of Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell would count in his favour, Solly said: “It’s a strong consideration. I do know Wayne likes success.
“I know he wants to win premierships, and I know he loves the values of the club and what we stand for.
“I think he’s made that pretty clear during his time here; his affection for the club, the ownership, the board and the management.
“We will certainly be speaking to Wayne because he left the place in very good shape when he left and he was very good when he was here.
“He was a pleasure to deal with.”
Demetriou was axed on Monday night after a day of deliberation at Souths, the club’s high-powered board making the call after taking into consideration the club’s woeful end to last season and awful start to this one.
Demetriou had prepared a presentation of his own to push his cause, but it eventually fell on deaf ears as the board unanimously opted to head in a different direction after convening two meetings at either end of an emotional day for the club.
Assistant coach Ben Hornby, who has been appointed as an interim for the remainder of the season, took his first training session on Tuesday morning.
The Rabbitohs gave Demetriou a stay of execution only a fortnight ago but Solly conceded the performance against Melbourne - they were flogged at AAMI Park - had been the final straw.
“Our view that the one game was indicative of an inability to turn it around and that we needed to make a quick decision,” Solly said.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t think Jason’s coach style would be able to get the change we needed, or the improvement we needed.
“Given that we sit 17th on the table and our for-and-against is 50 points worse than 16th, I think now is the time to make a change.”
Asked whether he could understand the external view that the club was a rabble, Solly shot back: “Rabble might be a strong word. I can understand it hasn’t been particularly consistent or smooth sailing over the last few weeks.
“We’ve tried to support the coach and tried to give him as much backing as we could but I think, over the weekend, everyone realised that change was needed and unfortunately the change had to be Jason.”
Solly also dismissed comments from Demetriou’s agent Chris Orr that his client had been treated poorly.
Former South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou (L) and CEO Blake Solly. Picture: Julian Andrews. “Jason spent three years here as an assistant coach, was appointed to succeed Wayne very early on in his tenure as an assistant,” Solly said.
“The club gave Jason every single opportunity to have success and for half of that period he did. But results over the last 12 months haven’t been good enough for a club of our stature and whilst it’s no criticism of Jason and how hard he works, the last 20 games speak for themselves.
“For his agent to say he’s been treated shabbily in the context of a year’s worth of patience and support, I think is unfair. And I’m not sure Jason would share that view.”
Replies
How are they a bigger basket case ?
All clubs make mistakes ( not quite like the eels ) the Souths board at least pulled the trigger and didn't accept rubbish , Parramatta's board would of given JD a new 5 year contract because they have no standards and accept mediocrity and failure .
The bunnies have people who can put them on the right path very quickly , who does Parramatta have ?
I tell you what Rusty , you go though the entire leagues club board and football club board and name me 1 single person who can actually do anything for the club and who gives you confidence that they can make the right decisions for the club ?
Demetriou doesn't have the talking skills of BA and the skills to rally his key players in order to set their contracts around the same time as him and also have his key players give him an endorsing reference to stay on. Demetriou tried that with key players and back fired with other players.
you think jason will be back at souths as an assistant to bennett :P
Na he will more likely be hired by the eels to be BAs assistant , Sarantinos will say that he is delighted to have such a winner of a coach to add to BA and Barrett on the coaching staff.
i think he is a great assistant.
Why would BA have a former head coach who got his team to the semi's as coach? Plus Demetriou is a defence coach too i believe? BA does that himself, why have someone who can help the slightest?
LB it was a joke son , Having BA and JD on the same coaching staff would not event be allowed by the NRL and it would embarrass the game .
Frankie, good points. The Souths' board definitely have higher expectations and less tolerance for failure than ours. Our board is still pondering, watching and waiting.
But, just look at the Souths' multi-billionaire owners and board, and you'd expect more cut throat decision making than ours: 25% ownership with Cannon-Brookes, 25% with Packer, 25% with Crowe, 25% with members. There's more clout and money on that Souths board than even Politis at the Roosters.
That's like comparing a bean-counting, "sure and steady, she'll be right" David with three driven, diehard, Gladiator-trained Goliaths. Good luck with that.
Additionally, up top Souths also have more bonafide "passion" and diehard support for Souths than our board. When powerful business men, business owners, invest time and money into a footy club, it's usually as much or more about passion than any great financial returns or windfalls.
Look at the Panthers' board. There is close to two hundred years worth of local Penrith business, footy nous and die-hard Panthers support. It's not an easy task even finding our footy board - Sarantinos, McEdulf and co. - on the web. The Panthers board however, do not have what Souths or the Roosters (or even the Dogs or Cowboys) have when it comes to big-end business clout behind them, which is why they have lost a large bulk of their stars and will decline somewhat. They can't work as creatively outside the cap as the more powerful-backed clubs. They rely on their junior production line, passion, culture and hard work. Kudos to them.
We on the other hand, seem to have an abundance of competent finance-people and bankers - from "employee" backgrounds - running the show, learning their running-the-footy show trade. They've done a decent enough job on the financial side, which is their trade, but we're missing a fair few ingredients that other boards have up-top for big-picture decision-making.
Our missing ingredients are: passion, footy nous and business-owner-mover-and-shaker clout.
Partly, I suppose it's also karma: a consequence of our past deeds, stupidity and in-house factional wars post-Fitzy that required a mandate of risk-averse, sure-and-steady stability above all.
However, read this interesting article on Souths: Trouble in Paradise.
Apparently, there is some I factional in-fighting within the Souths' board where not everyone sees eye to eye. Crowe's influence and stake in Souths has been supposedly diluted (down to 25%). According to that report, Crowe messaged Demetriou, "I have your back." That report also states Crowe is the one pushing for Bennett but not all the board are behind it. Crowe was also instrumental in get Sam Burgesss to Souths many years ago. The fact that Burgess left in dramatic circumstances last year amidst claims of player "favouritism" (happens a lot and BA is the master of this) and claims the culture at Souths wasn't premiership standard (ours isn't either), already hinted at some internal issues. Now, it's hard to know what's going on there, but Souths need to get their house in order too.
For Souths though, the road ahead is more sure than ours even if they'll have a bumpy road ahead for a while. With that kind of passion and business clout behind them, there are absolutely no excuses. Eventually, they should get their act together.
Us on the other hand, I don't know what lies ahead. It's filled with uncertainty considering our missing ingredients.
Still, I expect that if things continue the way they are, they'll eventually be forced to give up BA's head on a pike as the public face of failure and change. Maybe MONs, but maybe not. I don't expect major changes up-top to be honest for some time other than some reshuffling of a few chairs here and there after voting or whatnot.
However, Moses' return in a few weeks coupled with some renewed confidence could see a temporary renaissance of sorts, which might cause renewed hope the Arthur train can get back on its 2019-22 tracks which could protract the whole saga until we fall over in a rut again, inevitably.
Imo, over the next few years our ageing factor - a blind spot our board seem to have missed completely - will become more acute than now.
Bennett is our best hope for any real "temporary" success and he might help us recruit more astutely and temporarily change the culture. Of course, after Bennett leaves (as I suggested in my other blog) we're back to square one.
Time will tell. Like the Chinese saying goes, "May you live in interesting times". We sure do.
Just my two cents. I may be wrong.
HOE when you look at the periods Parramatta had success in the early 80s and between 97 - 2009 and I'm taking the flops from 3p right out of it because they played no part , Parramatta always had Parramatta people around the club who loved the club with all their heart . We can call Dennis Fitzgerald whatever we like but I saw him , Steve Edge and Alan Overton cry like babies after the 2001 grand final loss .
Most of the top clubs who have highly successful and astute business people running them also have a deep love for their club and this is also a key requirement . You need people who have the same love and passion for the club that fans have , Parramatta have no such people which is why they tolerate failure so much because it does not bother them as much as it does fans .
Frankie. Yep, absolutely agree with you on this point.
Passion and a deep love for the club is the foundation of everything.
Otherwise, there's no deep emotional investment.
It's like an "employee" who just clocks in, clocks out, looks at a regular pay cheque. They may consider the whole gig an interesting "experience" or "adventure" to add to their resume. Or otherwise they may plot their next holiday or sickie long weekend if they're really pissed off about something, got something else on their mind, or have something more urgent on.
At best, you get stable "competence" without big-picture higher aspirations, perhaps except for their own personal aspirations outside the organisation.
I think that's a bit of what we're seeing with us.
It's one of our missing ingredients.
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