The race to fill the vacant head coaching position at the St George Illawarra Dragons has taken an unexpected turn, with current South Sydney Rabbitohs assistant Ben Hornby emerging as a top candidate—and drawing glowing endorsements from his current playing group, even as stars push to keep him at Redfern.
Hornby’s name rose to the top of candidate lists earlier this week after the Dragons axed incumbent Shane Flanagan on the back of a winless 0-7 start to the 2025 season. Joining Hornby in the running is former Dragons captain Dean Young, who has already been installed as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 season. Both men are club legends of the Dragons, having won the 2010 NRL premiership together, with Hornby serving as team captain during that title run.
Since hanging up his boots as a player, the former elite halfback has steadily built his coaching resume, joining the Rabbitohs’ staff back in 2020. His biggest test came in 2024, when South Sydney sacked then-head coach Jason Demetriou mid-season and appointed Hornby as interim leader for 17 matches. Facing a locker room and season on the brink of collapse, Hornby steered the side to a stunning turnaround, including a five-match winning streak that kept the Rabbitohs in finals contention before Wayne Bennett returned to the club as full-time head coach, and Hornby stepped back into his assistant role.
Now, his current players at South Sydney are singing his praises as he considers a move to the Dragons’ top job. Rabbitohs skipper Cameron Murray opened with a tongue-in-cheek jab before doubling down on his full-throated endorsement, telling reporters on Tuesday: “I reckon he’s a shit coach and I reckon he needs to stay here. I haven’t told him that yet, but in all honesty, he had a little stint as head coach here a couple years ago and I couldn’t fault him. It was like he’s been doing it for 20 years. He’s a pretty incredible guy and any club would be lucky to have him as a head coach.”
Murray credited Hornby’s understated, fundamentals-focused approach for turning the 2024 season around, when off-field chaos and on-field struggles threatened to derail the club. “I think his simple approach to coaching is probably what helped us through that time period. He knew, contextually to that period, that simplicity was probably the best thing for us, and he kept it really simple for us. There was a lot of noise on the outside, probably a lot that was going on the inside as well, so his calm, simple approach helped us a lot. It’s probably what he’s learned best from Wayne, the simple fundamentals of what creates good footy teams and just being consistent with that. That’s probably what kept a lid on things back when he took over in ‘24 and probably why we bounced back the way we did.”
Edge forward Tallis Duncan echoed Murray’s praise, highlighting Hornby’s rare ability to break down complex game strategies for players of all positions, even notoriously “football-brained” forwards. “If that’s something that he wants to do, I think he’d be great. I think he’s got all the makings of a head coach and he’s a great person. His footy IQ is probably second to none, he’s pretty intelligent. So I think if that’s something that he wants to do, I think he’d be unreal at it. The way he can break down the game (is terrific). He was obviously such a smart footballer when he played, but I feel like sometimes that wouldn’t translate to explaining it down to probably dumb forwards. But he’s got that ability too, so he can break down the game in a way to make everyone understand it. I think that’s important and he’s pretty clear with his messaging.”
Try-scoring record holder Alex Johnston agreed that a head coaching role is in Hornby’s future, noting the 2024 interim stint tested the coach’s mettle and he passed with flying colors. “His hair probably got grey a lot quicker just those few games,” he joked. “He handled himself really well. I definitely think head coach is where he’s headed. I just don’t know where.”
As the Dragons weigh their decision between two club legends for the permanent 2026 head coaching role, South Sydney’s playing group has made clear they believe Hornby is ready for the top job—they just would rather he take that next step anywhere but away from the Rabbitohs.