Demetriou, who had just run his team through a session on the field below the boardroom, wasn’t asked to front the board and left the building unaware if he would be back the next morning to lead his team at the captain’s run before Thursday’s clash with premiers Penrith.
The players were kept out of the loop, too, doing their best to avoid the media in the lobby of the building.
Ben Hornby on his way out of South Sydney training on Tuesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Hornby, after spotting the media contingency, left the building through a back door, followed by fellow assistant coach David Furner and Demetriou.
Demetriou answered questions on the way to his vehicle.
“I’m preparing for tomorrow’s training, and we’ll see how we go,” he said in response to queries about his future as he left Heffron Park.
“It was a good day, the boys trained well. I want to get on with coaching the footy team. That’s what I’m paid to do. I appreciate you all being here, but I’m going home. It’s not easy. But it is what it is. We’re a big club, we’re not performing, questions have to be asked. I understand that and I respect it.
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“The boys have been outstanding. That’s never been an issue. They’re a tight group, we’re battling with injuries at the moment – half our squad is missing – but they keep turning up, and they’ll turn up Thursday night as well.”
Demetriou went home unsure of his fate, and Furner said he too was in the dark about the club’s plans.
Sources close to Demetriou, talking on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, told this masthead he was privately disappointed about being kept in the dark by the club about his future.
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