It might have looked like SOS Wayne Bennett as South Sydney crashed 30-6 to the Wests Tigers on Friday night, but the Rabbitohs are adamant rumours the supercoach is on his way are no distraction.

Brisbane's revelation that Bennett will not be rejoining the club in 2012 dragged Souths into the equation on Friday, whether they wanted to be there or not.

The race for the seven-time premiership winner is now thought to be between the Rabbitohs and newly privatised Newcastle.

"It's not a good thing or a bad thing," said former Queensland representative Ben Ross.

"We don't really listen to the news any more.

"We concentrate on our game only and all this Bennett talk, I didn't even know about it.

"It's new to us."

Another former Maroon who played under Bennett, Rhys Wesser, added: "We're not really getting dragged into it.

"In the end he'll make the decision and at the moment we've got John Lang.

"We've got 20 rounds to go and hopefully we're there for the finals.

"(Bennett's) done it all and he going anywhere would be a great credit to any club so it's his decision."

Ross conceded Bennett would be a bonus at the club, whose current mentor Lang is widely tipped to step down when his contract expires at the end of the season.

"He'd be great for any club he goes to," Ross said.

"He's taken two different teams to premiership wins and it shows that he can bring the best out in each side.

"If we're improving the way we are, whoever we get next year will be a bonus but we're not really thinking about that at the moment.

"We're just going to go out and play our best footy and what comes will come with the coach.

"It's not up to the players.

"We're really happy under Langy at the moment and we'll be playing for him."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP