South is only one of two founding clubs of the NSWRL from 1908 still in the NRL. That nearly was taken away from them in 2000 when it was decided they failed to meet the criteria for remaining in the competition. Two seasons in the wilderness they fought their way back into the competition.
The first few years back were underwhelming with three wooden spoons and a couple of close calls. New owners and Jason Taylor becoming the coach seemed to do the trick and things picked up. However, the coach was sacked for an incident at end of season celebrations in 2009. John Lang came in for two unexceptional years and then retired.
Michael Maguire and the change of fortunes was striking. They finished 3-2-3 for three consecutive years and capped that off with the grand final trophy in 2014. Surprisingly, Maguire's contract was terminated at the end of 2017 after 165 matches in charge and Anthony Seibold came in for a season. Despite a good year, he was bizarrely involved in a coach swap with the Brisbane Broncos and Wayne Bennett. The latter has been involved for three seasons, the team twice missing the grand final by a game prior to 2021.
2022 saw the introduction of Jason Demetriou as coach but things slipped, even missing out on the top eight finals for the first time since 2017, albeit by a whisker. When 2024 imploded, out went JD and in came interim coach Ben Hornby. The end result is well below the team's potential but someone has to be 16th and this year was South's turn.
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