Ever since the World Club Challenge, there has been a heightened interest in St Helens stars from NRL clubs.
The main one was of course Jack Welsby with NRL clubs reportedly happy to pay a huge fee to tempt him down under.
But the hero of the World Club Challenge is another player who NRL clubs are said to be interested in and now one of Australia’s top journalists has claimed that Dodd is planning ahead for a move to the NRL.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Danny Weidler was speaking on The Big Sports Breakfast and claimed that Dodd’s recent decision to join SFX Sports which was announced on their Instagram page three days ago is part of his plan to eventually earn a move to Australia.
“He’s employed George Mimis to get him a club in Australia basically,” Danny Weidler said on Sky Sports Radio’s ‘The Big Sports Breakfast’.
“I know he’s got a bit of time left on his contract at St. Helens. He’s one to watch.”
In terms of his contract, Dodd recently signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2024 season though there are options for him to remain at the club until the end of 2026.
Speaking on the development of Dodd signing with an NRL agent, Saints boss Paul Wellens said on Saints TV:
“Lewis is a great great young lad and not just Lewis but any player has the right to sign with any player or manager agency that they want.
“We respect those decisions. Lewis is with us in 2023, he’s contracted for 2024.
“We’ll obviously do all we can as a club to try and keep him here because he’s a player we love and value and we think he’ll be key to our success.
“But also Lewis is a grown adult who can make decisions for himself but what I do know with Lewis and his relationship with the club is that it’s a very respectful one, so any conversations whether it’s now, six months or 12 months time, they’ll be done in the right way.
“He’s a really humble down to earth kid who wants to get better, despite the success he’s already had in his career so far and we’ll continue to help him to do that.
“Right now is what we’re concentrating on and right now we have a fantastic player who’s going to help us be successful moving forward.”
