“He’s gone” – James Graham confirms Super League star’s transfer

St Helens legend James Graham has confirmed that one of his former club’s current star players will depart at the end of the season for a dream move to the NRL.

The talk of the last week has been around current Saints scrum-half Lewis Dodd, who is rumoured to have joined South Sydney Rabbitohs for the 2025 season.

Despite unrest in Redfern, with Jason Demetriou recently sacked as head coach, it appears that Dodd’s transfer is done with Graham confirming so on Fox League’s NRL360 show.

Former England great Graham revealed that he’s spoken to Saints CEO, Mike Rush, and that Dodd’s transfer to South Sydney is a done deal and he confirmed that ‘he’s gone’ from the Super League club.

Lewis Dodd signs for South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2025

Speaking in more detail on the transfer of Dodd, Graham also believes that the playmaker has been given assurances on who the next head coach of the Bunnies will be prior to signing, with former England head coach Wayne Bennett rumoured to be Demetriou’s replacement.

“Every team has a recruitment and retention committee but fundamentally those calls come to the coach. He has the final say,” James Graham said.

“And with a position like this which would be disruptive to the current squad, baring in mind who they have on their current roster like Lachlan Ilias, like Latrell Mitchell, like Cody Walker, like Damien Cook, this is going to make a difference.

“If a coach comes in and doesn’t like the halfback that they just signed, there’s you’re an excuse. I have spoken to the St Helens CEO, who basically said he (Dodd) has gone.

“Also, if I’m Lewis Dodd, I’m thinking, who’s my coach. And you know what I’m not accepting, is ‘I’ don’t know’.

“His player manager wouldn’t accept it either. He would not even enter negotiations either. He’d need certainty on who it was going to be.”

Dodd set to player under Wayne Bennett

Few could have predicted Bennett’s return to Souths, with the veteran coach currently in charge of the NRL’s newest franchise club the Dolphins.

The 74-year-old has worked wonders in Redcliffe, with the Brisbane-based club battling it out for the finals in their first two seasons despite many tipping them for the wooden spoon.

Bennett coached the Rabbitohs between 2019 and 2021 and helped Australian rugby league’s most successful club challenge for honours again, however since then they have struggled and in 2024 they sit bottom of the NRL ladder.

Now he will face a similar task as before, with England star Dodd vital to helping the Bunnies and Bennett return to their former glories.