Souths confirm coaching shake-up to fix on-field struggles

UPDATED: A major change to South Sydney’s coaching staff has been confirmed, with the embattled Jason Demetriou set to bring in Canberra great David Furner in an attempt to shore up the club’s defence.

The Sydney Morning Herald first reported the news on Tuesday, with the Rabbitohs now confirming Furner will act as an assistant to the under-fire head coach.

It’s understood the club is committed to providing Demetriou with extra resources to add more experience to his assistant coaching ranks.

At the end of last season, Souths officials advised Demetriou to hire a senior assistant to make up for the losses of John Morris and Sam Burgess, however, he promoted NSW Cup coach Joe O’Callaghan to fill the void, despite recommending Furner.

Club officials gave him their blessing to sign who he wanted, after they persuaded Demetriou to take on Burgess as an assistant last year.

South Sydney released a statement on Wednesday morning confirming Furner’s return.

“I’m really happy to have David joining our crew. He will add a lot to our coaching staff and, most importantly, our players,” Demetriou said.

“We’re looking for ways to improve our performances and we think that having an experienced coach like him coming in to concentrate on the team’s defence will be a positive. We’ve worked together previously and had great success at the Cowboys, and he knows what our club is all about having worked here before.

“I’m looking forward to having him here alongside myself, Benny (Hornby), Joe (O’Callaghan) and ‘Sutto’ (John Sutton) as we prepare for our next game against Melbourne and the rest of the season.”

Souths have leaked the most points in the competition so far this year, giving an average of 32.6 points a game.

Compounding their problems, the Rabbitohs have the second worst attack, with an average 15.6 points scored per game, better only than the Gold Coast Titans.