Lewis Dodd NRL decision made as South Sydney make call on half-back

Lewis Dodd has been dropped by South Sydney just one week on from his NRL debut.

The former St Helens half-back made his long-awaited bow in Australia last weekend, having had to bide to his time for an opportunity under Wayne Bennett at the beginning of 2025.

Dodd has struggled to force his way into the Rabbitohs’ 17 since switching to the NRL. Having failed to catch Bennett’s eye in the pre-season trial matches, Dodd was left out in favour of Jamie Humphreys in the early stages of the new season.

Humphreys subsequently got injured, and a half-back crisis that included Jayden Sullivan receiving a suspension left the door ajar for Dodd to make his way into an NRL 17 for the first time last weekend against Canterbury Bulldogs from the bench.

However, Dodd only came on in the closing stages – by which point Souths were already 26-0 behind. They lost 32-0.

Bennett insisted in the aftermath of that game that it would be difficult to judge Dodd too harshly given the circumstances surrounding his debut.

But with Sullivan’s suspension now over, he has returned to the starting line-up for this weekend’s Anzac Day game against Melbourne Storm.

And Dodd has been dropped from the 17 altogether, forming part of the reserves in Souths’ extended squad.

Dodd told Fox Sports after his debut that he was adamant he could perform in the NRL however Bennett wanted him to.

“I feel confident that I can do a job. Whether that’s 20 minutes or 80 minutes, whatever Wayne wants from me,” he said.

“Week in, week out, I feel like I can do that job for him and the boys so it definitely filled me with a bit of confidence.

“It’s a bittersweet moment. A proud day for me and my family to run out there and I can call myself an NRL player now.”

But he will now have to watch from the sidelines again this weekend.

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