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Murray Wenzel and Darren Walton

Candlelit path for Demetriou's NRL chance

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou replaces Wayne Bennett in the hot seat for 2022. (AAP)

Suncorp Stadium's floodlit surface will offer no place for Jason Demetriou to hide in his official NRL coaching debut on Friday night.

But, for a man whose coaching career began "under candlelight", that shouldn't pose a problem.

The South Sydney mentor replaces Wayne Bennett in the top job for 2022, having spent three seasons under him already at the Rabbitohs and two in Brisbane before that.

The former English Super League tough nut doesn't just have those five invaluable years under the master coach to lean on though.

One of the most underrated but thorough apprenticeships began back in 2011, when a desperate Keighley Cougars offered Demetriou the captain-coach role in England's third-tier League 1.

"You just get into it and see how you go," Demetriou recalled ahead of Friday's date with the Broncos.

"It was a fantastic opportunity at Keighley to take over a club that went into administration, had no money.

"I was pretty much told under a candlelight because there was no power that 'this is your job and do your best' and I learnt a lot in regards to the value of every cent that you spend."

He piloted that side to a promotion that season, before flooring officials of Queensland Cup outfit Northern Pride in his job interview when he produced a thick dossier outlining how the club would thrive under his watch.

The Cairns-based club did just that, winning the Queensland Cup and inaugural NRL State Championship in 2014.

Moving south to Townsville as an NRL assistant, Demetriou sat next to Paul Green as the North Queensland Cowboys won an NRL title a year later.

He then coached the Illawarra Cutters to the NSW Cup-NRL State Championship double before heading to Red Hill in 2017.

When Bennett was sacked a year later it triggered an early coaching switch.

Bennett's right-hand man, who along with current coach Kevin Walters had interviewed for the Broncos' top job but was overlooked for Anthony Seibold, followed him back to his native Sydney.

It adds some spice to Friday's clash but Demetriou's men are certain he's ready for his moment.

"Obviously Wayne puts the right people around him and trusts them to do their job and that's what JD's been doing," Damien Cook said.

"It's been a real smooth transition. JD's been great; he's really passionate and energetic and excited about the journey.

Demetriou said he'd try and catch up with Bennett, who will coach the Redcliffe-based Dolphins next season, while in Brisbane this weekend.

"I've had a pretty heavy involvement here over the last three years and that's a big credit to Wayne and the freedom he's given me," Demetriou said.

"But we don't need to change a lot. I know Wayne's left a really good squad, a good team and good systems in place that I've helped build with him, so it's not about reinventing the wheel."

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