Lewis Dodd signing the key indicator as South Sydney sack Jason Demetriou

It’s been a busy few days for South Sydney Rabbitohs who reportedly signed Lewis Dodd at the start of the week and they’ve now sacked their head coach.

Reports initially broke on Saturday that Lewis Dodd was set to head down under for the 2025 season with confirmation of that deal set to occur after the 22-year-old puts pen to paper when Souths’ Mark Ellison flies to England.

It was deemed by some in the Australian media a strange announcement to sign Dodd given that head coach Jason Demetriou was on shaky ground in his job having lost six of seven in 2024.

Demetriou’s future has now been confirmed with the ex-Wakefield Trinity player sacked by South Sydney with the Bunnies confirming the news via a press release on their website.

Journalists and pundits down under, including former St Helens legend James Graham, have now suggested that Lewis Dodd’s signing was the tell-tale sign that Demetriou’s time was up.

Who will coach Lewis Dodd at South Sydney?

Initially, South Sydney Rabbitohs will appoint Ben Hornby as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2024 season but it’s unclear who will be in the lead gig when Dodd arrives in 2025.

However, given how unstable Demetriou’s position was at the club when those reports emerged a few days ago, it is being suggested that South Sydney do actually have a candidate in mind with Dodd’s reported move being the giveaway.

Speaking on Fox League’s NRL 360, pundit Braith Anasta has claimed that it was the reported four-year-deal handed to Dodd that ultimately indicated the fact Demetriou would be axed.

He said: “I have a feeling that the signing of Dodd could be linked to Wayne.

“I don’t think they would have made a call as big as this without knowing who the head coach was going to be.

“I think with Wayne’s ties with the Super League and the English rugby league, and Dodd playing underneath his assistant at the moment.”

Ex-St Helens player James Graham echoed that, adding: “Anybody that has signed Lewis Dodd would have spoke to Kristian Woolf. It is a matter of fact he brought him through and he speaks very highly of him.

“On the potential coach coming in Ben Hornby you connect the dots and he was coached by Wayne Bennett in 2010 at the Dragons when they won a premiership, so that line of communication is open, which adds to that story.”