Much as I love a good biography (and I really don’t) I am struggling to understand the relevance of Travis Touma’s heritage (half Lebanese half indigenous), having gone to Sydney Uni or having played for Lebanon as part of his defence. The fact that he was Man of the Match in the 2019 GF when he single-handedly stopped the Raiders from scoring a certain Try by intentionally handling the ball and then laughing about it seem to point to him being a bit of an unremorseful shady character regardless of his heritage, playing history or alma mater.

Did you go to high school in the area? Clevo or Randwick? Please, not Sydney Boys High!
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Come back to the land of cardinal and myrtle and all will be forgiven. You don’t want to follow a club that can’t make up it’s mind whether they are fairy floss or Licorice All Sorts.

‘Pretty much the definition of a class traitor’
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I grew up in Redfern in housing commission flats, and now I am a conservative leaning, reactionary who is vehemently opposed to the wave of ‘Cultural Marxism’ sweeping the planet that will soon see people cancelled for not calling Dogs, Cats and Cats, Dogs.

Kudos to you then for bringing some refinement and fashion to the Ugg boot capital of Australia. Frappuccinos instead of Flannelette shirts is a step in the right direction. 👍

Rugby League is developing its own language, and none of it is for the betterment of the game. The ‘chicken wing’, the ‘crusher’ the ‘cannonball’, the ‘disruptor’, ‘escorts’, the ‘downtown’. The growing list never ends. Now, thanks to Manly, we have the ‘suplex’ and the ‘fulcrum’ to add to the growing vocabulary of the referees who stopped speaking plain English a decade ago. Soon, the game will need interpreters and subtitles and an expert in linguistics to explain the etymology of these word salad terms.

Like I said…

‘Success hasn’t been forthcoming’: Souths sack Demetriou after fractured board eventually decides time’s up

“I like soy latte. I try not to, but I really like it. Does that make me a bad person?”

It makes you a Roosters supporter, which is pretty much synonymous. 😛

Let’s take a look at the Rabbitohs board, including their chairman, Nick Pappas and their inability to act decisively.

Firstly, IMO this decision should have been made mid-late last year, but certainly by the end of last season after Souths missed the finals for the first time in almost a decade after being 1st on the NRL ladder after 11 rounds.

Then, at the end of the 2023 season, Demetriou gave us his expected and perfunctory mea culpa, saying he was going to conduct a rigorous and thorough review into what went wrong with the Rabbitohs 2023 season, with promises this would be fixed before the start of following season. Souths then went on to lose 5 of their first 6 games this year. So clearly, Demetriou has NO idea what the problem is, much less how to fix it. I mean, HOW do you fix the problem when YOU ARE the problem?

This decision should have been made at least by the end of round 6 going into the Bye round for the Rabbitohs to give their caretaker coach 2 weeks to prepare the side for the Storm. No! That would be too reasonable. Much better to sack the coach and give caretaker coach Ben Hornby TWO DAYS to prepare the side for the defending premiers!!!

The cherry on the cake for me in the procrastination and indecisive action, the hallmarks of incompetence, by the collective board members and chairman was that the board had to have 2 meetings on the same day and 5 hours apart to reach a decision. Why? ‘Slippery Solly’ tells us it is because Rabbitohs chairman Nick Pappas was on an overseas jaunt, and it was 2am in the morning, his time. So poor old ‘Pappa Nick’ needed to have a nap first! They had to wait for their chairman to have a sleep while they pretended to consider Demetriou’s lengthy word salad of a ‘proposal’ to save his job. This ‘proposal’ would have had as much substance to it as the ‘rigorous and thorough review into what went wrong with the Rabbitohs 2023 season’ (working title: ‘Word Salad #1’).

I wonder whether ‘Pappa Nick’ was even aware of the Demetriou ‘proposal’ much less have time to consider it while he had his Dolmades with Tzatziki and goat’s cheese for breakfast?

In short, Sam, the whole board needs to go, including ‘Pappa Nick’. Souths CEO ‘Slippery Solly’ should get shown the door as well, along with Mark puddin’ Ellison, who looks like he spent more time with his head in a fridge than as ‘head of football’ responsible for recruitment and retention of Rabbitohs roster. Lachlan Ilias, Taane Milne, Michael Chee Kam, Sean Keppie, the giants of the game. All recruited by puddin’.

But I think George Piggins has played his role at the club and deserves to enjoy his retirement. I was going to say at 79 yrs George would be too old for the role. But then, looking at Souths preferred coach for 2025, Wayne Bennett (74 yrs) it would seem a little hypocritical to endorse one and not the other. So who knows Sam? Anything is possible.

Remember the lengthy period Oates was inexplicably dropped for? Although I’m sure it was just a coincidence. 😛

There was talk this character was “white-anting” Corey Oates marriage during his tenure at Red Hill. Did Ikin confirm there was any truth to that report?

Demetriou won’t be out of a job for long. The game still needs plenty of experienced assistant coaches. That is all he ever was and all he will ever be. Just like his mates Trent Barrett, Jason Taylor, Cameron Ciraldo, John Cartwright, David Furner and Steve Price. Anthony Seibold should be on that list too, and when the bottom falls out of Anthony ‘the white-ant’ Seibold’s premiership boat just like it did at Souths and the Broncos, I will add him back to that list as well.

But look at the difference in the talent of the Rabbitohs roster compared to the Dragons at that time. There is NO excuse for Demetriou. I am sure Demetriou was part of the decision to let Reynolds go in favour of his little Greek mate Ilias, the Trojan horse, who along with Demetriou destroyed Souths 5 preliminary finals appearances 5 years in a row. They should NEVER have let Reynolds go. I said that at the time. I said it was the biggest mistake I can remember the club making. Was I wrong?
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Look at what Reynolds has done for the Broncos. Look at where Souths are falling down and the players whose form has been effected following his absence. Souths still have a side filled with representative talent and plenty of finals experience, and the Dragons never had that. If Latrell and Cody had aimed up since round 1 none of this would have happened. If Demetriou hadn’t decided to become “Daddy Daycare” for 2 petulant toddlers and had shown them a bit of the ‘Bennett tough love’ then he might still have a job.

This should have happened before the Bye round. The CEO, board and chairman have to be held accountable for dragging this out for so long. I was screaming for Demetriou and Ilias to be sacked long before the end of last season. But did they listen?

Hardly, medieval. He still has his head and his cojones.

Nooooooooooooooooo @%$#@ way!

Then why is there a ‘bounce back’ effect with, more often than not, teams under a caretaker coach winning their next game after the coach is sacked?

This has taken WAY too long! There was never going to be a quick fix and instant turnaround with Latrell still out and playing the Storm (2nd) and the Panthers (3rd) back-to-back. Souths could have had an interim coach, like Mal Meninga, on board with 2 weeks to get the team used to a new system over the Bye round. But they blew it! Effectively, their inaction has left it too late for any chance of Souths having a chance to make the finals for 2024.

Now, both Demetriou and Ilias have a red line through their names. I was calling for that to happen well before the end of last season. The ‘Illawarra Cutters’ crew need to follow Demetriou out of the club as well, Milne, Thompson and Host. Souths can keep Havili though. Chee Kam also has to go as well as Keppie. Souths have signed a lot of trash over the last 3 years, with the obvious exception of Jack Wighton. Hopefully, English halfback Lewis Dodd, who is signed for 2025 will be a step in the right direction. Cody has the rest of this season to save his position, otherwise next year Souths will be forced to play Wighton in the halves along with Dodd. Assuming Jye Gray isn’t moved to 5/8.

Souths need to go forward shopping desperately. Their middles are depleted, and their edges are sketchy, except for Koloamatangi and Souths need speed out wide. Munro will fill one spot, but AJ is slowing down. This could be his last year to break the NRL Try scoring record, and given Souths form at present that isn’t looking much of a possibility.

I never liked the signing of Milne. I have never rated him. He can’t play wing or centre. Even if he wasn’t a grub he isn’t up to first-grade standard he is only picked each week because Demetriou used to coach him at the ‘Ilawarra Cutters’. Milne needs to be released from Souths ASAP.

So you endorse JWH’s dog shot, thug tactics. No surprises there or that you have no problems with the chooks breaching the salary cap in 2013, 2018 and 2019 to win premierships. Or that Roosters supremo Nick Politis calls the shots at NRL HQ. The ends justifies the means.

As is every elbow/forearm to the head or headbutt that JWH has ever done. Yet, unlike a number of Roosters supporters here you are yet to denounce the ‘King of thugs’. You are tripping over your double standards, Sam I Am.

And Milne should contest the charge so he will get 3 weeks then lunge at the judiciary and get a 4 month suspension.

I read that Milne will cop a 2 week suspension or 3 weeks if he contests the charge. That being the case he should definitely contest the indefensible charge. 😛 👍

Is any punishment harsher than what Rabbitohs fans have to endure each week seeing Milne repeatedly miss tackles, make poor defensive reads leading to Tries, drop balls and turn over possession and getting sin-binned or sent off due to brain explosions? Milne plays like he is a double agent who is trying to undermine any chance the Rabbitohs have of winning games.

No. He has actually done us a favour he is our biggest liability along with Chee Kam.

To be brutally honest there was malicious intent in that tackle. An intent to cause an injury. But then the same is true of JWH every time he raises his elbow and forearm late into a tacklers face. Truthfully he is the biggest serial grub in the game and thanks to Nick Politis he always gets off. He didn’t even get penalised on the weekend.

There was no difference between that and Latrell’s forearm to Johnson. Although JWH’s forearm to Suli’s head was more dangerous because of the speed and momentum of bodies in motion and there was no time to react and protect himself.

Souths have been hit hard by injuries and Latrell’s dumb ass suspension. But even so, the Warriors beat Souths a few rounds back with the same number of key players missing.

The quality of Souths remaining roster is still good enough to come up with a better defensive effort.

The fact that the coach keeps favouring his former ‘Illawarra Cutters’ players, Milne, Host, Thompson and Havili shows even though the for all but Havili doesn’t justify selection highlights the problem. Throw in Chee Kam getting picked over Tallis Duncan and Demetriou’s refusal to try Jye Gray much sooner when Latrell was clocking off after 10 mins was another failure.

Souths defensive failure has not been addressed. Not since their fall from the top of the NRL Ladder after rounds 11 last year. Demetriou said he was going to conduct a thorough and extensive end of season review. Clearly, based on the evidence of Souths ruined 2024 season where they sir at the bottom of the NRL Ladder, Demetriou has no idea what to do to fix the problems that ultimately he is responsible for.

Forcing both Adam Reynolds and Sam Burgess out of the club also has Demetriou’s fingerprints all over that as well, along with CEO ‘Slippery Solly’ and Football Manager Mark Ellison. BOTH have to go, along with Demetriou.

A line has to be drawn in the sand and it starts with the coach. Demetriou must be sacked NOW! With Solly and Ellison to follow soon.

Even Ben Hornby or Cam Murray as captain coach would do a better job guiding this club than Demetriou who has been too scared to offend Latrell or Cody and get them offside rather than do his job.