South Sydney coach adamant pay war with NRL not a distraction for players

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou is right behind his players in their pay war with the NRL, adamant the latest move to black out logos on their jumpers won’t be a distraction.

The playing group announced on Thursday night that they’d cover the competition’s official logo on their jerseys in an escalation of their ongoing protest against the NRL’s refusal to take stalled CBA negotiations to an independent mediator.

The Rugby League Players Association took the extraordinary step of banning players from talking to the media on game days, and they’ve upped the ante with their latest move.

“We are escalating our action as a playing group because the NRL have shown a complete lack of respect by not agreeing to what is a very reasonable path forward in negotiations,” Cowboys halfback Chad Townsend posted.

“The NRL and NRLW players need our CBAs agreed as soon as possible, but we won’t be dictated to by the commission or the NRL.”

All NRL and NRLW players have agreed to cover the logos on their jerseys, although it’s hoped the move won’t detract from some of the wonderful designs for Women in League Round.

The Rabbitohs will honour women’s rugby league legend Maggie Moloney on their jersey, with coach Jason Demetriou more concerned about promoting that than the RLPA’s latest boycott.

“I don’t really have a view. It’s just continuing on what we’ve been doing,” he said.

“It’s nothing that I can control. All I can control is that we’re prepped for the 80 minutes. The club will do what it needs to do for the players to honour that if that’s what they want to do, but ultimately it’s about getting ready to play.

“I think it’s up to the playing group to make sure they let the representatives do what they should be doing, and that’s representing the playing group and making sure that they can concentrate on what they’re paid to do, which is to play footy.

“I understand it and I support the playing group with it, but we’ve got a job to do and that’s play footy this weekend.”

That task has been made a lot easier with superstar Latrell Mitchell set to return from a calf injury in what will be his first game in more than two months.

The Rabbitohs have struggled without their fullback there to control the defensive line and torment opposition teams with his brute force and silky skills, with South Sydney entering the round outside the top eight.

But he’s back on deck after being a late scratching last week, and his coach says the plan is for him to play 80 minutes in Tamworth after building up his fitness.

“He was very, very close to playing last week, but we made the decision to make sure we got that extra load into him to make sure he’s able to fire on all cylinders,” Demetriou said.

“The injury has been fine for a few weeks. It’s just been about being able to handle 80 minutes of footy. It’s not about getting out there and being able to play 20 minutes.

“You’ve got to prep your muscles to be able to handle the load over 80 minutes and then back up for another six weeks.

“The team needs a bit of a boost – we all do – but the most important thing is that he’s ready to go. He’s got a bit of energy about him, and we’ve missed that. We miss the energy that he brings and the voice that he brings around the place.”