South Sydney have severed ties immediately with Sam Burgess while fellow assistant coach John Morris has narrowly avoided the same fate after a tumultuous couple of days in the wake of Sunday’s loss to Newcastle.
With the Bunnies board unable to reach a decision on Tuesday night, an official announcement on their future was delayed until Wednesday, with co-owner Russell Crowe consulted before the final call was made.
Burgess’ time at the club ended after the Rabbitohs assistant coach left training early on Wednesday morning.
He was whisked away by his partner outside the club’s training centre prior to their morning session. The England international was forced to walk out of the front doors of their Heffron Park base and front a media scrum.
Burgess indicated he would make a statement in due course but said: “I wish the boys all the well (sic).”
Club chairman Nick Pappas left soon after Burgess and said: “We wish Sam all the best.”
Jason Demetriou. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Burgess was leaving at the end of the year regardless to take up a head coaching role with Warrington in the Super League, while Morris has been heavily linked with a job at the Wests Tigers on Benji Marshall’s staff.
The Rabbitohs then released a statement saying Burgess had been released from his contract to concentrate on his impending switch to Warrington and the impending birth of his child.
“I’ve made the decision to step away from South Sydney, given the circumstances.,” Burgess was quoted as saying in the statement. “My immediate focus is the upcoming birth of our baby and preparing for my new role at Warrington.”
Burgess’ departure cannot be understated at a critical juncture in Souths’ season. The former prop, who helped the Rabbitohs break their premiership drought in 2014, retains a close bond from his playing days at the club.
His brother Tom trained on Wednesday but Demetriou will now need to get everyone pulling in the same direction with their season on the line. There also appear to be divisions among players over Mitchell getting an easy ride from Demetriou.
Morris looks like he will see out the season after he was at training on Wednesday and the Rabbitohs clarified that he would be working alongside head coach Jason Demetriou and assistant Ben Hornby to prepare the team for next Friday’s showdown with the Roosters.
The situation exploded on Tuesday after reports in the Sydney Morning Herald held that Burgess and Morris had told Demetriou that star players Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell held too much sway in the club.
The coach had already spoken to the media to deny rumours of a rift in the playing group, telling the SMH that the rumours were a result of their poor form, which has seen the club plummet from top of the ladder to the brink of missing the finals.
“We’re not winning footy games at the moment so the rumour mill is going overdrive,” he said. “Latrell Mitchell was out for 12 weeks so if he was running the show during that time, I don’t know what the problem was there.
“They are two very influential players in a group, but they are part of a group. The only way to answer that stuff is to win footy games. At the moment there is lots of talk. That is because we are not winning.”
The coach was also caught in a controversy after he liked a post on Instagram that was critical of forward Jacob Host and Liam Knight, who has since departed to the Bulldogs.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The post read: “We had @liam_knight and @hostyyy playing for us tonight. It’s a wonder we didn’t lose by 50 having those clowns pretending to be first graders.”
Demetriou said that he liked it in error and has subsequently apologised to his player. He has gone back to the post to remove the like.
The Bunnies have the bye this weekend, before returning next Friday for a derby against the Roosters, which, if the Tricolours beat the Tigers on Saturday evening, will be a make-or-break clash for both clubs with a spot in the finals on the line.
They will do so without Mitchell, who accepted a one-game suspension after being charged with elbowing Tyson Frizell in the closing stages of Souths’ defeat to Newcastle on Sunday.
“I’m disappointed, not only because of the game (a loss) but also in myself. I have worked really hard to get this stuff out of my game, the brain snaps,” said Mitchell on 9News.
“I’ve tried to mature a lot. I haven’t had an incident since 2021, that incident with Joey Manu. I have worked really hard to get myself back to playing footy and enjoying it and getting that stuff out of it, the grubby stuff.”
Mitchell’s application has been the elephant in the room at the Rabbitohs all season.
Some at the club have raised concerns over his fitness and dedication after missing 10 weeks of the season with a calf injury.
The Kangaroos representative was filmed downing beers on stage with country singer Luke Combs last week, only to turn in an anaemic performance against Newcastle with Souths’ season in the balance.
with AAP
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
All fair points, Poss. In fairness, you have to wonder about both blokes futures in the game if they can't get their aggression under control. LM at least claims he's trying to do something about it, but I guess there are plenty out there who have trouble believing that and, as you say, that hit on Manu, a clear lack of remorse then the episode with Frizzell, makes it a tad hard to believe he's making much progress. Still not a fan of the hate that he seems to be attracting though.
Poss
Roar Rookie
Big Gordy,Mitchell has come out with some statements that got people off side with him,after hitting Joey Manu instead of meekly coming back after suspension he came out saying that he doesn't have to change the game does,then there was the "Ferrari" has left the garage.....His elbow with Frizzell..Apparently he has been suspended one less than Victor & look at all the criticism that Victor gets..
scrum
Roar Rookie
Disruptive influences can really affect team performance
Slammin_Sam
Roar Rookie
You gotta love "The Pride of the League". No front office eats their own like the mighty Redfern Rabbits. Hasnt sacking Reynolds for Walker aged well....
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Darren Lockyer was the best 'go to ' man I ever saw. Wally was the best player and had impact all over the park, Cam was the best in player/game management, but I couldn't count the amount of times the chips were really down for Broncos or QLD and there would be some miracle play that had Locky's fingerprints all over it.
Albo
Roar Rookie
It's their defence that has gone to the toilet in recent months. Only Murray & Cook have been trying to hold them together. They need a new pack and to dominate a few teams, before they are going anywhere. And their back 5 , apart from Graham ( even injured) offer no meters out of defence , so they are rarely in attacking zones at the end of their sets. All in all, the hard yards are not being taken by Souths on the park. They are generally taking the easier options . Which I am guessing was what Burgess was pointing out to the brainstrust of the Bunnies ?
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yes you are spot on DP, Trell wants to do it “His Way”, he must surely be talking to himself and has a go when he ONLY wants to and not when the team needs him and says to himself “this is too hard” in some games, as he knows that he's getting paid a stack load of $$$s and he'll just go with his game flow not what the team needs. I’m sorry to say all this but that is the type of game that he projects, yes he is just brilliant in some instances but by gee he's pretty awful in some also. All this is letting the Bunnies down not helping in any way, as this has happened for a few years now, its not a one off. Lets see what pans out but Trell needs to change his attitude as getting suspended every year at crucial games or time of the season is not good enough for a player of his caliber!
SSTID
Roar Rookie
Agree with a few things, but not others. On Mitchell, he reminds me of people I have played sports with or worked with, who you recognise have immense talent, yet for one reason or another they don't make the most of it. Personally I was very average at sports and work, but I would have killed to have the talent of some of these people, so it frustrates me no end that they don't utilise it. But that is just me and for the actual person they can be quiet happy under-performing to their natural talents. It is possible post retirement that such people may look back in regret. On Murray, great player no doubt, but I don't think he is a natural Captain. Captain courageous and effort - yes, but leadership has many different attributes and he is not what the team needs as a captain. Let Cam be Cam and let someone else be Captain (Cook). I was surprised to see the stat the other day that Murray is the most penalised player in the NRL - is that because of his captaincy role?
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
There are a number of issues at Souths; Is LM underperforming? In that game, the consensus is, yes he did, but other than that, I've heard nothing in recent weeks to suggest he alone in not playing at his best. He's got plenty of mates on big money who are down on form, so why is he being singled out? Separate to that is an apparent coaches issue around views we're told were held by Morris & Burgess about how LM and Cody Walker were treated by the head coach. What exactly does that have to do with Mitchell? People are also accepting that what these two apparently said is true and correct. On what basis? Because a journalist said so? We have no idea exactly how his behaviour, poor or otherwise, is being handled by anyone at Souths, let alone the head coaches and besides, their apparent concerns included Walker so why isn't he being slammed? Souths have a squad that should be at least top 6, even if LM is out for the season after that injury at Origin time. That it's not has to be down to both the coaches & ALL the players, yet apparently LM is the one most are blaming. Sure he's on big money but even the best can't perform at their peak every week, especially if they're coming back from a long layoff into a team that's out of form collectively.
The Barry
Roar Guru
This is a story about the club owner making changes to coaching staff as a result of a (relatively) poor season… Yet every other comment is about Latrell Mitchell… despite there having been half a dozen Latrell dedicated articles since Sunday. The frenzy is amazing…
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Souths have had the quinella this year with Mitchell & Walker Trifecta next year by adding Wighton. Will they go for the quadie in 2024 by adding JAC
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Steve, have you considered that maybe Gus is on the right track? For all his apparent ego, I don't think Latrell likes the pressure of being the 'go to ' player. IN Australian and SOO teams he can bide his time, not have to be the guy that hauls the team of out a dark spot and can produce his momentary spots of brilliance. At the chooks he was surrounded by stars, at Souths the expectations and pressure is greater and maybe he just doesn't like it. Also at FB the spotlight is greater, on both your failings and contributions.
Rugbytrylover
Roar Rookie
Trell to rugby?…. Laziest footballer ever… wouldn’t last 2 minutes.
Rugbytrylover
Roar Rookie
Ah yes. Rugba Leeg… the so called ‘greatest game of all’ … never fails to disappoint!
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Trell plays FB or nothing. Sua'ali'i is a winger or nothing.
scrum
Roar Rookie
He is on big money, you are expected to perform but further to that is his attitude. Judging by what’s going on in the South’s camp he is the centre of unhappiness and appears to be upsetting the assistant coaches and other players.Mitchell should be a leader in the Club but appears to be anything but. Because he is blessed with great talent it sounds like his bad behaviour and lack of endeavour and commitment is being downplayed and not addressed by the head Coach. It’s a recipe for failure and lack of achievement which is precisely where South’s are positioned. Clubs find it extremely difficult to deal with highly talented players who have lost the plot but at the end of the day they are probably better off without them. It’s sounds like the HC has not handled this well but Mitchell also has to be accountable, he is not a child. On top of that people with inflated egos are extremely difficult to manage and involve in meaningful discussions.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I could never see Griffin as a head coach in the NRL again. Consultant? maybe at the Sharks. :silly:
Richard POWELL
Roar Rookie
I think you'll find that Burgess resigned voluntarily. He was not sacked. His leaving is a statement that the Rabbitohs are a rabble and he wants to distance himself when the coup de grace is delivered in round 27
Succhi
Roar Rookie
My guess is Sam probably had the bigger influence on the group, more so than the coach. Being recently retired and Rabbitoh royalty, I reckon players would have been listening to him more so than the head coach.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
That may well be the case, but it surely can't be a good reason to give him the sort of grief he's copping at the moment? Being abused doesn't generally get lazy people motivated. Way better to try and sort out why he's not putting in & fix that, than dishing out serve after serve - especially for things he seemingly has no control over, eg the apparent different treatment from his coach.