South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou says the Rabbitohs’ 48-6 loss to the Roosters may be the “lowest point” of his career.
Friday night’s capitulation at the Sydney Football Stadium leaves the Rabbitohs winless through the opening three rounds and at risk of finishing the weekend last on the ladder for the first time since 2010.
A halfback switch, Latrell Mitchell’s profane radio interview and former player Josh Mansour’s critique of Demetriou all combined for an unprecedented week of off-field scrutiny at the Rabbitohs.
But on the field, an error-prone attack and lapses in concentration haunted the Rabbitohs, who conceded eight tries against the dominant Roosters.
“It hurts,” Demetriou said.
“It’s probably the lowest point in my career right now.
“The monkey’s on our back and you can see that in our resolve at times. There’s some effort there, but it’s put into the wrong places.”
Lachlan Ilias’s replacement Dean Hawkins could not spark the Rabbitohs’ attack alongside Cody Walker in the halves, but he had little chance to shine due to his side continuously making mistakes.
“We made a lot of errors and put ourselves under a lot of pressure, and to back it up we weren’t resilient enough to defend our line,” Rabbitohs captain Cam Murray said.
Rabbitohs debutant Jack Wighton and Alex Johnston struggled for chemistry on the Rabbitohs’ left edge, with two of the Roosters’ three first-half tries coming from defensive lapses.
“It’s Jack’s first game, he wasn’t going to come in and be the saviour,” Demetriou said.
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