ROOSTERS 48 RABBITOHS 6
Jason Demetriou insists he’s the person to steer South Sydney out of their disaster as Latrell Mitchell was sin-binned within the Rabbitohs’ humiliation by the hands of bitter rivals the Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Friday night time.
Winless by the opening three rounds and in peril of ending a spherical on the backside of the ladder for the primary time since 2010, the Rabbitohs had been condemned to one of the vital humiliating nights of their latest historical past with a 48-6 battering.
Demetriou was already below intense stress after his facet’s second-half collapse final yr, however the blowtorch will intensify this week as he tries to pull one of many NRL’s most proficient rosters out of an alarming early season type hunch.
“It’s disappointing,” Demetriou stated. “It hurts. It’s in all probability the bottom level of my profession proper now. However I understand how we get out of it and we’ll battle collectively.
“There’s just one method out and that’s staying collectively and combating. It’s a matter of getting that first win. Individually, there’s indicators on the market we’re beginning to discover some rhythm, however we’ve acquired to battle tougher.
Joseph Manu carries the ball into the Rabbitohs defence.Credit score: Getty
“I’m extraordinarily assured [it can be turned around]. That’s my job.”
Demetriou solely final yr signed a contract extension till the tip of 2026.
His staff had been by no means within the battle towards their oldest enemy, celebrating Jared Warea-Hargreaves’ three hundredth NRL match, who sprung to an 18-0 half-time lead due to a Sam Walker double after which celebrated as Joseph Manu and James Tedesco each crossed twice after the break.
Mitchell was sin-binned for an expert foul as he tangled with Tedesco making an attempt to shepherd a ball lifeless. He then by accident stomped on the Australian and NSW captain whereas off steadiness and falling to the bottom.
The Roosters piled on two fast tries whereas Mitchell was off the sphere and added one other for good measure when he returned for the ultimate six minutes.
The determined Rabbitohs will play the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium on Good Friday.
“I’ve acquired a variety of belief on this group,” Demetriou stated. “They’re an incredible group. They care about one another and that’s in all probability our greatest drawback for the time being. We don’t wish to be within the place we’re in. We’ve acquired to simply accept our actuality and battle our method out of it. I do know we are going to get out of it.
Requested in regards to the scrutiny, Demetriou stated: “That’s the privilege of being at this footy membership. It’s a giant membership. I’m the top coach and I’ll put on that. That’s no drawback. The noise is there as a result of we’re not successful.
“I’ve acquired little doubt [I can turn it around]. The one factor that’s going to make a distinction is getting our coaching proper and getting some outcomes on the board.”
Demetriou stated he disagreed with the choice to sin-bin Mitchell, however admitted it didn’t have a bearing on the outcome with the Roosters cruising at 30-6.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson stated he was pleased with the way in which his facet honoured Warea-Hargreaves in his milestone match.
“You’ll be able to typically depend on that and [think], ‘that will likely be sufficient’,” Robinson stated. “But when that’s all you give attention to, then the air will exit of it fairly shortly. The footy must be the muse and you need to faucet into that at totally different moments. He’s honoured the front-rower code for 300 video games.”
Walker didn’t end the match after being despatched for a head harm evaluation and deemed to be struggling class one signs.
