Joe Barakat came out of retirement to lead Southern Districts in 2024 and help the club rediscover its DNA. 

While results were mixed this season, the retiring coach is full of optimism for the club’s future and he’s hoping rugby fans from around Sydney can help out to get Souths back to where they belong. 

Overview with Joe Barakat:

“I got thrust into the job for the 2024 season and it wasn’t something that I was planning on doing. The head coach role anyway,” Barakat said after returning from the European vacation he postponed to coach Souths this year. 

“My job was to try and shift the culture at the club because it had been taken over by mercenaries for the last five years and there was very little culture left. The place was just filled with players putting their hands out. 

“My job was to try and get the club back to a place where people wanted to be here for the right reasons and not necessarily just for the financial gain.  

“For 60 minutes of most games this year, we were in it and we put pressure on oppositions. 

“But we didn’t have the depth for fresh reserves at that cost us. 

“I made some errors on the coaching front. I don’t need to go into that too deeply but I think I could have done things differently and got different people involved. 

“But ultimately, it’s tough when you’re competing against the might and the pulling power of the Easts, the Randwick’s and the Sydney Uni’s.  

“At the moment, it’s not an even playing field, and that’s not a bad thing. But after a pretty disastrous few years at the club, we haven’t stayed with the pack financially and we’re working hard to change that. 

“Despite all of that, the players remain really positive about the club and our future. We had two players finish in the top eight of the Catchpole Medal which was a great result. 

“I hope a lot of the current players stick around and join a lot of the good colts pushing through over the coming years. 

“(New coach) Scott (Fava) will take the ball and run with it and I’m confident he’ll do a good job. 

“I’ll stay involved at the club. I’m looking to start a foundation, similar to the Friends of Warringah and Hillbillies set up to help support the club moving forward and if anyone reading this would like to support us, please get in touch.”

What should be the focus at Souths between now and round one? 

“I’ll keep this really simple. We have fantastic rugby players at the club. But the teams that did well in the competition this year were able to have good ball carries and offloads. 

“Even though it looked like we had high offload numbers, the times we offloaded were poor and we didn’t win enough contests. 

“We’ve also got to play more football. We were too predictable and that’s on me. We had good footballers with good skills but we dumbed them down a little too much.  

“It’s Scott’s gig now, but I think there should be a focus on improving the skills around our ball carry so that we can offload more, avoid going to breakdowns, and play more football.”

Which of your players do you think can push on next year? 

“Our fullback Issac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens is over with the Force at the moment and played quite a bit on their recent tour,” the coach explained. 

“James Douglas (hooker) and Liam Blyde (halfback) were both really strong for us and I hope they hang around.

“Taisson Lealaisalanoa is one to keep an eye on. He’s a big forward who had some health issues this year which disrupted his season. He’s a big body, he’s tough and he doesn’t back down from anything.”

What can we expect in 2025? 

“I think the club will improve next year. There are some fantastic kids pushing through from colts and more set to come in the years ahead,” Barakat said. 

“Will those young guys have an impact next year? It’s a big ask but hopefully they can find their feet in grade. 

“I think we’ll be stronger in second and third grade next year. 

“But come 2026, if we can keep developing and retaining the young players coming through the club and continue to build on the culture that we recently rediscovered, then I reckon the future is looking really bright.”