Former St Helens man Lewis Dodd is subject to calls to be cut without playing an NRL game due to the situation at South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Dodd joined the Bunnies in a well-documented move that saw him swap St Helens for Souths with the Englishman signing for coach Jason Demetriou, but now playing for Wayne Bennett after Demetriou’s exit.
Per reports, Dodd signed a deal worth around $650,000 per year for three years but it seems that is already proving a strain on Souths’ salary cap with the club now keen to extend fellow playmaker Cody Walker.
Souths reportedly want to extend Walker’s deal at a value that’s believed to be similar to Dodd’s, however, the money doesn’t add up and that has seen pundits on Fox Sports‘ NRL 360 panel suggest that axing Dodd – who is still yet to play an NRL game – could be a way to find those finances.
Reporter Dave Riccio first explained the Cody Walker situation and how he’s “worth $650,000 to $700,000” before speaking on the “jigsaw puzzle” that also features utility Jye Gray and emerging star Jamie Humphries, who has thus far kept Dodd out of the side.
James Hooper then touched on the sore subject, stating: “It’s early doors, but they might have to make a hard call on Lewis Dodd.
“It sounds brutal, he hasn’t even laced a boot and run out in an NRL game but they’ve signed him on a three-year deal.”
South Sydney Rabbitohs must make ‘brutal’ call on ex-St Helens man Lewis Dodd, claims journalist
Credit: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com
Dodd played in the pre-season trials but copped a suspension in the last of those which meant he missed Round One, during which Jamie Humphreys starred meaning that he retained that spot for Round Two.
Round Two then saw Humphreys kick the game-winning drop goal whilst Dodd, who played in the reserves, fared well but left the field with an injury. As the situation unfolds at Souths financially, Hooper continued to suggest removing Dodd’s wage from the books is the most viable solution.
He suggested: “I think Kristian Woolf had some interest in him at the Dolphins prior to him signing with Souths, perhaps they try and open that pipeline.”
“You’re asking the questions about how it all fits together, I’m just saying if you’ve got a bloke on that amount of money, given what we’ve seen from Humphries I know it’s only early doors but he looks like an NRL player every day of the week.”
To that, Braith Anasta responded: “No other NRL club is going to want Dodd. You can’t play reserve grade Super League, reserve grade NRL and then have an NRL club (give you a contract), it’s not going to happen.”
For Riccio, the only way another club take a chance on Dodd would be if Souths pay around half of the ex-St Helens man’s salary in order to get him off their books – something that is a sad state given the talent that he is.
Riccio said: “The only chance is if Souths chip in, significantly, you can’t have a $600,000 reserve grader on your books. But maybe you can have a $300,000 and you (Souths) tip in $300,000.”
