Souths are slammed for 'extremely cruel' way they sacked Jason Demetriou - as club boss reveals the moment he knew the coach had to go

South Sydney bosses have been slammed by Jason Demetriou's management for the 'extremely cruel' way they axed the besieged coach - as the CEO revealed the final nail in his coffin.

The 48-year-old was fired with immediate effect after two board meetings on Tuesday with the Bunnies sitting at the bottom of the ladder amid a shocking run of form that dates back to the middle of last season.

Demetriou's agent Chris Orr believes his client has been treated very shabbily by the club, which held its first meeting at 8am, followed by the decisive get-together at 5pm Sydney time.

'It was a long day,' said Orr.

'To be honest, it wasn't fair to have your head coach waiting around all day just to be axed.

'Coaches are human beings with families and I thought South Sydney's process was extremely cruel.

'I feel they got it wrong … or they got it wrong last year when they upgraded him and extended him a further two years.'

Demetriou had survived swirling rumours about his job security by guiding the Rabbitohs to a spirited 34-22 loss to high-flying Cronulla in their last game before the bye in round seven.

But Souths hit a new low in round eight, conceding the most points in any game of Demetriou's tenure as they were thrashed 54-20 by Melbourne.

CEO Blake Solly conceded that the Melbourne performance was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

'Our view that the one game was indicative of an inability to turn it around and that we needed to make a quick decision,' Solly said on Wednesday.

'Unfortunately, we didn't think Jason's coach style would be able to get the change we needed, or the improvement we needed.

'Given that we sit 17th on the table and our four-and-against is 50 points worse than 16th, I think now is the time to make a change.'

Solly also dismissed the idea that Demetriou had been treated poorly during the process.

'Jason spent three years here as an assistant coach, was appointed to succeed Wayne very early on in his tenure as an assistant,' Solly said.

'The club gave Jason every single opportunity to have success and for half of that period he did. But results over the last 12 months haven't been good enough for a club of our stature and whilst it's no criticism of Jason and how hard he works, the last 20 games speak for themselves.

'For his agent to say he's been treated shabbily in the context of a year's worth of patience and support, I think is unfair. And I'm not sure Jason would share that view.'