SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 09: Rabbbitohs assistant coach Jason Demetriou talks to Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett during a South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL training session at Redfern Oval on March 09, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Former South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has been told to back off the rest of his former players by replacement Jason Demetriou.
The Rabbitohs made the grand final in 2021, with Bennett then departing for Redcliffe where he will coach the inaugural season at the Dolphins for 2023.
In the meantime, he is busy setting up his first squad with the Dolphins and recently announced the signature of Mark Nicholls, who developed into a star prop under Bennett at the Rabbitohs.
The signing of Nicholls required the Rabbitohs to give the veteran a release, however, Demetriou told Fox Sports that he was glad he had most of the remaining squad members on long-term contracts.
“The no poaching policy, it didn’t last too long,” Demetriou laughs.
“With any coach in Wayne’s position now it’s only natural you’re going to want players you know you can trust.
“At the stage of his career Mark is at we were rapped he gets an opportunity to really set himself and his family up.
“Luckily we’ve got the majority of the rest of our squad at South Sydney on long term deals.
“So he can go and look somewhere else now the old fella.”
Bennett reportedly had a clause in place upon leaving South Sydney that he wouldn't be able to attract any of their players for a certain time period.
He was heavily linked with signing star half Cody Walker, however, the third-place getter in the 2021 Dally M eventually extended his contract with the Redfern-based club on November 1, the opening day of negotiations for players off-contract at the end of 2022.