South Sydney will look different next season without captain Adam Reynolds, but departing coach Wayne Bennett still has confidence in the Rabbitohs moving forward.
Super coach Wayne Bennett believes South Sydney’s biggest issue will be replacing Brisbane-bound halfback Adam Reynolds, but he expects the Rabbitohs to be competitive again next season.
Bennett conceded Souths will find it hard to replace Reynolds as the team’s playmaker, goal kicker and all-time leading points scorer.
And while the master mentor’s three-year head coaching tenure at Redfern is officially over, he still has high hopes for the men in red and green.
Bennett threw his faith behind Bunnies recruit and former Brisbane star Anthony Milford to excel at the club despite the half having assault allegations hanging over his head.
Milford was charged with three counts of assault following an incident in Brisbane in late September.
“It will change a bit and there will be some challenges for them (Souths), but I think they will be up for that,” Bennett said.
“The big issue will be Adam – replacing him but Anthony Milford is going there, and he will play a lot better football than he has in the last couple of years.
“He is a footballer player, so that is a really good buy.”
Much of Bennett’s belief in Souths’ future success comes from his respect for his replacement – current Rabbitohs assistant Jason Demetriou.
“Jason will do a really good job,” he said about Demetriou, who has been an assistant at the Rabbitohs since 2018 after following Bennett to the club.
“He has been a wonderful servant to the game and to me personally.
“He has been a wonderful co-coach and Ben Hornby has also done a good job.
“There is a wonderful staff and Jason is an extremely competent coach, so I don’t think there will be too many ripples at all.”
Bennett is ready to move home to Queensland next season, but he says South Sydney will always hold a special place in his heart.
“They are honest, hardworking, a great group of young men, responsible and working-class Australia – I love em,” he said.
“They’ve got a good club that doesn’t rely on one person. There is a team of men and women that make that club tick.”
Bennett refused to speculate on Reynolds’ replacement as South Sydney captain next season, saying: “That isn’t up to me”.
Hardworking lock and proud Rabbitohs junior Cameron Murray is favoured to pick up the job.
Bennett was more than happy to praise Murray for his stellar performance in Sunday’s grand final as he made a whopping 52 tackles with zero misses.
“He was outstanding,” he said.
“He was exhausted on so many occasions, but he has a great ticker and heart.
“But he had a lot of great teammates. They kept turning up and I thought defensively we were very good because we had to be.
“I don’t know how many repeat sets that they (Penrith) got on us.”
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