The South Sydney Rabbitohs have announced Lewis Dodd’s long-term contract signing.
The 22-year-old playmaker’s departure to the NRL was first rumored to be imminent a week ago, and South Sydney has now formally confirmed his signing.
Lewis Dodd, a young half who will be crucial to St Helens in 2023 after his injury return, will be a huge loss for the team. In their press release, Souths referred to Dodd as “one of the most exciting and skilful players” in Super League.
Although Dodd had previously mentioned his desire to play in Australia, news last week that he would sign a three-year contract with the struggling South Sydney Rabbitohs caught everyone off guard.
The news was made even more confusing by head coach Jason Demetriou’s untenable position (he was fired shortly after), which led to rumors that Wayne Bennett would be a good fit.
Bennett has insisted that he has never watched Dodd play, but now that Dodd’s transfer to Souths is official, that will change come season’s end.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are thrilled to announce the signing of English premiership-winning halfback Lewis Dodd for the next three seasons, the club announced on their website.
“Lewis is one of the rising stars in England and he indicated to us that he wanted to test himself in the NRL and the Rabbitohs were the Club he wanted to do that with,” stated Head of Football Mark Ellison, who was reportedly going to travel to England to finalize the deal.
“Although he is only 22 years old, he already has the necessary skills to succeed in the NRL after winning a Super League Premiership and a World Club Challenge with St Helens.
“He has been a pleasure to work with, and we are excited to have him join our club for the 2025 preseason.” We send him our best wishes for the rest of the St. Helens season.
Now that the deal is official, Saints will search desperately for a replacement for their young half, as other important players like Konrad Hurrell, who is out of contract, and Tommy Makinson, who is anticipated to depart for Catalans, will also likely depart.
The Bunnies, who presently sit at the bottom of the NRL, are also celebrating a major victory because of Dodd, as they mentioned in their press release.
In the Super League and Challenge Cup, Todd has played in 75 first-team games for the Saints, including the Super League Grand Final victory over Catalans in 2021. Souths described Todd as one of the most exciting and skilled players currently playing in the Super League with St Helens. He made his first-team debut against Wigan in 2020.In 2023, he also scored the game-winning field goal to defeat the Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge, giving him an amazing 74% win percentage across the Super League, Challenge Cup, and World Club Challenge.
