It wasn't the fairytale beginning they were hoping to hand interim coach Ben Hornby but skipper Cameron Murray is certain there's a new hope in South Sydney's changerooms.
After former coach Jason Demetriou was shown the door on Tuesday, the Rabbitohs lacklustre start to the season continued with a 42-12 loss to premiers Penrith.
It looked to be a horror end to a horror week with rookie fullback Jye Gray finishing the match in a moon boot, halfback Dean Hawkins straining his quad and two payers sent to the sin bin but the Rabbitohs lock firmed it was still a step forward.
“I know the scoreline didn’t reflect it and I know you can nitpick different moments out there where you can say there was no effort...but I still think there was some good things in there to reflect back on and really base the way that we want to play our footy moving forward," Murray said post-match.
"It's still emotional, everyone hates losing. It’s not all smiles in our change room, not at all. But we tried to turn up today and make a statement.
"It’s been a tough week and we’re going to move on...we’re going to be fighting hard for the rest of the season and try and get back to our best footy."
The Panthers hold Wighton up
The under-siege club continued to dominate headlines throughout the week with confirmation Wayne Bennett, who Murray spent three seasons playing under at the Rabbitohs, is a target to take over the coaching role from 2025.
Winning just five games since Round 11 last season, external noise has no doubt worn down the playing group over the last 12 months but Murray said now the axe has fallen it's up to 'the men in the changeroom' to put South Sydney's season back on track.
"It’s not ideal circumstances so I’m not going to sit here and lie and say it was easy but in saying that it probably wasn’t as hard as everyone thinks it was," Murray said.
"At the end of the day we’re footy players and it’s about the men in the changeroom and us turning up as a group and just trying to be good teammates.
"We’re footy players, this is what we love to do and what happens on the outside and what we can’t control and is irrelevant for us.
"It doesn’t matter. Wayne or whoever is coaching us next year is coaching us next year. We're worried about next week. Benny's here as our interim coach and that's that."
Dean Hawkins Try
Souths CEO Blake Solly confirmed that seven-time premiership winner Bennett has declared interest in the job with Hornby joking before kick-off that the Dolphins coach 'had already taken his job before he had even coached his first game.'
Hornby, who captained Bennett’s 2010 Dragons team to grand final glory and initially joined South Sydney in 2020 to work under Bennett, said he spoke to the former Rabbitohs' coach in the lead up to Thursday's match.
Hornby prepares for Panthers with some Bennett advice
"Just to be me, that's what Wayne says nearly every time - just be you because you can't try and be anyone else," Hornby said post-match.
"Me and Wayne talk regularly so I'll ask for his advice like anyone would but I thought we put in a good performance there for long periods.
"Going up against the premiers, we had a chance to make a statement and I thought we did that.
"Now it's just about moving forward, taking that same commitment and desire and doing it for longer periods."
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