Signed, sealed and delivered: Wayne Bennett to coach Rabbitohs
Wayne Bennett and South Sydney have confirmed the seven-time premiership winner will return to coach the Rabbitohs in 2025.
“It wasn’t a badly kept secret. I said all along I was going back to Souths,” Bennett told this masthead on Tuesday morning.
“I know where I stood for ages. I like that part of Sydney, I like Souths and the people there, the fans ... it’s a great club.
“Because you’ve already got relationships with people there in key positions, it makes it a lot easier.”
Bennett will return to the club he led to the 2021 grand final on a three-year deal worth about $3 million, with the deal to also include performance bonuses that align with the club’s on-field results.
“On behalf of the board of the Rabbitohs we look forward to welcoming Wayne back to the club, and to finishing off what we got so close to achieving in 2021,” chairman Nick Pappas said in a statement.
Wayne Bennett is set to sign a three-year deal to return to South Sydney.Credit: Getty Images
Bennett’s return to the cardinal and myrtle comes after a persistent, clandestine bid for his services by Parramatta officials as they prepared to move on from Brad Arthur as early as May 1.
The Rabbitohs made Bennett their overwhelming priority once his one-time successor Jason Demetriou was sacked three weeks ago, only for the Eels to do the same behind closed doors.
Throughout negotiations, which included a visit to Bennett’s farm in Warwick and a lucrative offer to take charge at Parramatta, the 74-year-old coach maintained that his preference was to return to the Rabbitohs, a message that was conveyed to South Sydney CEO Blake Solly.
Bennett told this masthead on Monday night that “I was impressed with [Parramatta] and the way they handled it”, but has long stressed his personal connection to a South Sydney playing group largely assembled under his watch.
Interim coach Ben Hornby will remain in charge until the end of the season, and remains a big part of Bennett’s plans.
“Absolutely, 100 per cent, we’re great friends,” Bennett said about Hornby.
“We won a premiership together [at St George Illawarra in 2010]. We’re on the same page about our thoughts on the game.
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“He’s also strong enough to tell me when I’m out of order, and vice versa. I have a great relationship with him. He’s a very good coach.
“He’s not my opposition [this year]. He’s got the easiest coaching job in the NRL right now in the sense I’ll be there with him next year, he’s trying to hold the club together, which he’s doing a really good job, while waiting for the new coach to come in when the new season starts.”
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