'Easy transition': Bennett set to finalise Souths return within days

Wayne Bennett believes his return to South Sydney will be an “easy transition” and has confirmed that he wants interim coach Ben Hornby to stay on as a key member of his coaching staff.

Bennett is due to meet with Rabbitohs officials in Brisbane on Monday and is expected to finalise a three-year deal that will re-unite the game’s most successful coach with the most successful club.

The seven-times premiership winning mentor has unfinished business at Souths after taking the Rabbitohs to the 2021 grand final and he has a long-stated ambition to become the first coach to win titles at three different clubs.

Many of the personnel remain from Bennett’s previous stint at Souths from 2019-to-2021, including Hornby, who captained his 2010 premiership winning St George Illawarra team.

Hornby, who joined the Rabbitohs in 2020 and - along with Jason Demetriou - was an assistant to Bennett, was appointed as interim coach after the club’s decision to axe Demetriou as coach last month.

Bennett said after the Dolphins 24-12 defeat of Wests Tigers in the final match of Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium that he hoped to be able to announce the move to Souths within days.

He will then focus on the remainder of his tenure at the Dolphins before handing over the reins to assistant coach Kristian Woolf, as agreed to under a succession plan when he joined the club 12 months before their first NRL season

"I've moved from a few clubs in my life in the same situation, so it is not new to me," Bennett said.

"I am experienced at it and I know how to handle it. The key thing is that everyone knows what is going on. You just get on with life.

“They have staff down there who will look after everything until I get there.

"Ben Hornby is doing a great job there now and I will certainly want him on the coaching staff when I get there. It will be an easy transition."

Bennett said he was yet to discuss the Rabbitohs' roster with Souths officials but insisted he would not be raiding the ranks of the Dolphins, who currently sit fourth on the NRL ladder.

Kiwis hooker Jeremy Marshall-King is among the players linked to Souths, but Bennett expects him to stay at the Dolphins.

"I won't be taking any of their kids that they want to keep," Bennett said.

"That's not going to happen. I didn't build this club to try and destroy it.

"If there is a guy that they are not offering a contract to or he is looking to go somewhere else and I think he can play a bit, then that will be a different thing, but I want all these players to stay."