Southern Districts have appointed former Wallaby and three-time Catchpole Medal winner Scott Fava as head coach for 2025 following the retirement of Joe Barakat.

Souths president Brad Devine said the club has been working for several months to find the right candidate and seems confident the Rebels have found their man.

“We went through a pretty thorough process. The board appointed a panel, the panel set a criteria and we had a really good list of candidates. I think we had 15 or 16 different coaches apply for the role,” Devine told Rugby News.

“We didn’t want to get just any coach from anywhere in the world, we wanted to find someone that was close to our community and that understood the Southern Districts DNA.

“Scott’s a local guy who lives in Caringbah. A few of his kids are in our juniors program, he played for the club, he’s got an extensive playing history and a strong coaching resume.

“He’s coached in the Shute Shield before at Norths and everyone I spoke to there had really positive things to say about his impact. He handed over to Simon Cron and Norths won a competition a year or two later, so we’re excited to get Scott on board.”

The club also promoted current colts coach George Gargoulakis to first grade assistant coach and club program coordinator.

“We’ve built a bit of continuity with George coming up from colts into grade,” Devine said.

“Out colts have really improved over the last few years under George. Our first colts side were very unlucky not to make the finals this year and our third colts side made the preliminary final.”

Devine also gave praise to retiring coach Joe Barakat who came back to the club at a fairly turbulent time at Forshaw.

“I think Joe pointed the club in the right direction. We’d lost our way a few years back and lost the heart and soul of the community club that we are,” Devine said.

“Retreating from that, Matt Barr got back involved and helped stabilise the ship, then both Joe and Matt helped point us back in the right direction.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, but I think we’ve rediscovered our DNA as a club. We need to be a tough, hard working football club with strong ties to our community.

“Joe helped get us back on that path and now we think Scott is the guy to drive it for the next few years.”

Devine said further coaching appointments across grade and colts are expected in the coming weeks.