Rabbitohs announce EIGHT youth signings as future takes shape

The Rabbitohs have confirmed a big chunk of their future, announcing eight players have committed to various contracts throughout the club's pathways system.

The group of eight is headlined by Queensland under-19s representative Jye Gray, who was solid in last night's loss to the NSW Blues at Leichhardt Oval.

The Souths Logan Magpie, who is from the Gold Coast and has played both rugby league and rugby union as a junior, has been part of the Broncos' elite development squad since the age of 15, but after being named the Mal Meninga Cup's five-eighth of the year in 2022, has made the switch to the Rabbitohs.

The club have picked him up on a development deal for 2023, with an option for the club to bring him into the top 30 for 2024, with a potential eye to becoming Lachlan Ilias' long-term halves partner.

Haizyn Mellars, Liam Le Blanc and Tyrone Munro have also been brought into the club's development and top 30 lists in the coming years.

Munro, who was the Harold Matthews Player of the Competition in 2021, has now progressed to Jersey Flegg after playing SG Ball during the first half of the year. He has scored the most out of South Sydney's announcement, moving into the development squad for 2023 before being guaranteed two years in the top 30 for 2024 and 2025.

Mellars has signed on with the development squad for 2024, before moving into the top 30 for 2025. Son of former NRL player Vince Mellars, he is a former basketballer who converted to rugby league in 2020 as part of the Rabbitohs' South East Queensland elite player development program. Already in the Queensland emerging Origin squad, the outside back has big raps on his future.

Le Blanc, on the other hand, is a young middle forward who will move into the development squad for 2024.

The club have also brought on TJ Herring, Aaron Macey, Daniel Wright and Mateus Heslin to join the "Black Rabbits Elite Player Development Program", with Wright and Heslin's deals going into 2025, while Macey and Herring will have two years to prove their worth under the watchful eye of South Sydney pathways coaches.

Macey will be one to watch after captaining South Sydney's Harold Matthews side in 2021 from fullback, although he can also play at centre.

Wright and Heslin co-captained the Harold Matthews side this season, while Herring has joined from Manly and played SG Ball at the Rabbitohs this year, playing at hooker.